All Sky Originals CarbonNeutral® in the UK

Sky has made a landmark commitment toward its ambition to be net zero carbon by 2030, with all its Sky Originals from 2019 on, now certified CarbonNeutral® in the UK

Sky is the first broadcaster in the albert Consortium to achieve this status, marking its determination to be the most sustainable media and entertainment company in Europe.

Earlier this year, Sky announced its plan to become net zero carbon across its entire value chain by 2030, and launched Sky Zero, a campaign encouraging others to #GoZero by spreading the word to its millions of customers every day.

Sky has committed to be net zero carbon two decades ahead of UK government legislation. It will do this by cutting emissions from its business operations, suppliers and customers using its tech products, by at least 50%. Crucially, it will also develop one of the most sustainable film and TV studios in the world, Sky Studios Elstree part of Sky Studios - the broadcaster’s new Europe-wide production powerhouse.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky Group Chief Executive, said: “We are entering a critical decade on the long road to climate recovery, and all businesses have the opportunity to accelerate progress and become part of the solution.

“In February 2020, we confirmed our most ambitious commitment yet on climate action by setting a 2030 target for Sky Zero. And already in 2019, we became the first broadcaster to offset the emissions to of all our UK-commissioned Sky Originals – an important milestone on our path to net zero carbon, in addition to already being carbon neutral for our operations since 2006.”

Aaron Matthews, Head of Industry Sustainability for BAFTA albert, said: “Britain has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 which means all businesses including those in the Film and TV Industry will need to look at their operations.

“It’s fantastic that Sky are choosing to tackle their emissions head on and set their own ambitious target. albert’s role is to support the Film and TV industry as it transitions towards our carbon neutral future and we look forward to working with Sky to make Sky Zero a success.”

Highlighted in the newly published Bigger Picture Impact Report 2019 Sky has received CarbonNeutral® certification on all 41 UK-commissioned original productions in the calendar year including hits like Chernobyl and Brassic. This has been achieved through the measurement, reduction and offsetting of emissions from all of Sky’s UK-commissioned original productions from third party producers and Sky Studios.

This is an extra step by Sky, who have been a CarbonNeutral® company since 2006 and will continue to work with Natural Capital Partners to address the impact of its UK-commissioned Sky original productions, in addition to its direct business impact.

Sky is a founding member of the BAFTA albert Consortium, an organisation that helps the TV and film industry work towards a net zero carbon future. All UK-commissioned Sky original productions are required to measure their emissions using the albert carbon calculator and Sky has set an ambition for all its UK-commissioned Sky original productions to attain albert sustainable production certification.

Sky will continue to work with partners and production companies to reduce the emissions and environmental impact of its original programmes and only offset what cannot be reduced.

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Note to Editors

For more information, please contact: Sian.Parry@sky.uk

Additional quotes:

Tom Popple, Senior Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability at Natural Capital Partners, said: “We need action on climate now to start transforming and regenerating our economy and our planet. Sky’s expansion of its carbon neutral programme demonstrates that commitment to making a positive impact, pushing the industry to do more about its environmental footprint and being a meaningful contributor to the net-zero economy that we must achieve.”

About Sky

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 32,000 employees help connect our customers to the very best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own local, original content.

Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, we plan to double our investment in original content by 2024. We’re also developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in UK creative sector in the first five years alone.

Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, we believe it is our responsibility to do it safely. That’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. We recently announced a series of commitments to help tackle racial injustice and improve diversity and inclusion. To ensure the commitments are delivered, Sky will invest £10million per year across its markets for each of the next three years. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 – two decades before we have to – and we’re an inclusive employer recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity.

About BAFTA albert

albert is a collaborative BAFTA, indie and broadcaster backed project that brings the screen industries together to tackle their environmental impact and inspire sustainable living. Founded in 2011 and governed by an industry consortium, the group’s objective is to support everyone working in film and TV to create positive environmental change. They do this by enabling every part of the screen industry to eliminate waste and carbon emissions from production and empowering the industry to create on-screen content strategies that support a vision for a sustainable future

The project offers events, training, certification, a bespoke production carbon calculator and a renewable energy procurement project. Each year over 1000 productions use the albert calculator with a further 300 also applying for albert certification.

About Natural Capital Partners

With more than 300 clients in 34 countries, including Microsoft, MetLife, Logitech, PwC, Sky and Ørsted, Natural Capital Partners is harnessing the power of business to create a more sustainable world. Through a global network of projects, the company delivers the highest quality solutions which make real change possible: reducing carbon emissions, generating renewable energy, building resilience in supply chains, conserving and restoring forests and biodiversity, and improving health and livelihoods.

Natural Capital Partners was founded in 1997 and has teams in the US, Europe and Central America. It has been recognised as Environmental Finance Best Offset Retailer for the past nine years.

The CarbonNeutral Protocol

The CarbonNeutral Protocol was created and is managed by Natural Capital Partners. It was the first clear set of guidelines for businesses to achieve carbon neutrality back in 2002, and every year since then Natural Capital Partners has continued its commitment to providing a robust framework for clear, transparent and high quality carbon neutral action. The Protocol is updated annually with input from an Advisory Council of external experts to ensure it reflects the latest industry and scientific best practice