Our Progress on Sustainability: Two Years In

27/03/2023

Back to All News

Our Progress on Sustainability: Two Years In

Emma Stewart, Ph.D.

Netflix Sustainability Officer

Social Impact

27 March 2023

Global

Making Entertainment Sustainable: Decarbonizing the Making of Film & TVAligning a company's operations with climate science is a bit like making a television series. It involves producing many seasons, which require tons of planning and feature plot twists, fun stories and characters!

The Trailer : Climate science tells us this is the critical decade to avoid unmanageable climate change. So, we set two near-term climate targets aligned with consensus climate science measured in years, not decades: 1) to halve our emissions by 20301 and, 2) in support of global net zero goals, starting in 2022, to annually bring our remaining net carbon emissions to zero by restoring nature to capture carbon2.

Season 1 : As we've shared previously, most of our emissions come from producing our films and series. The production industry is over a century old, and like most industries, it is traditionally powered by fossil fuels. Reducing these emissions is paramount and makes good business sense. We approach them using our OED framework: first Optimizing energy use, then Electrifying it, and Decarbonizing the rest. Using this framework, we identified four main strategies: Energy Efficiency, Electrifying Vehicles, Clean Mobile Power (alternatives to diesel generators used universally across the entertainment industry), and Renewable Energy.

Last year, we reported that we reduced our 2021 emissions 10% below what they would have been and we'll report our 2022 emissions in our annual ESG report in June. To supplement this decarbonization work, we delivered on our promise to net all remaining emissions to zero by investing in the power of nature to retain and capture carbon3. This aligns with the latest guidance from nine research, NGO and multilateral government institutions who conclude that in addition to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in company operations and across value chains, to help get the world on track for halving global emissions by 2030, all companies need to invest in protecting, managing and restoring nature, for example by buying high-quality nature-based carbon credits. Relative to our work to decarbonize, these credits come last, but per the science (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nature), cannot come later.

Season 2 and beyond: All that planning and piloting will pay off as we ramp up our use of low-carbon electricity and fuel and start to spur change across the ecosystem of vendors from whom we rent our stages, offices and production equipment.

This is what industry leadership looks like. Netflix is raising the bar by aligning operations with science, pioneering approaches to protect nature, and sending new demand signals to suppliers that sustainability is a measurable priority. Not only do we see progress against ambitious near-term goals, Netflix is also leveraging their platform for positive change. It's clear that Netflix is taking climate action seriously. - Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director, Environmental Defense FundMaking Sustainability Entertaining: Supporting Creators Who Want to Better Represent Sustainability on ScreenThe changing climate all around us and the ingenuity of sustainability solutions cropping up everywhere is one of the most epic stories of our time, and it's one creators are already reflecting on screen at Netflix.

In 2022, 165 million households around the world, more than 70% of our members, chose to watch at least one story on Netflix that helped them better understand climate issues and highlight hopeful solutions around sustainability, or both. So that members can more easily discover these stories, we've curated over 200 of these series, films and specials into a Netflix collection - Sustainability Stories.

Sustainability shows up in many ways - green premise titles like Don't Look Up and The Sea Beast can ignite massive conversation about climate inaction or nature conservation while also being two of the most popular films on Netflix. But as climate impacts and solutions become an everyday part of our lives, they are increasingly represented on screen implicitly through character traits, settings, and subplots. Examples of these green contributions include the hunky organic farmer in Sweet Magnolias, the youth climate activist celebrated on Queer Eye and the preschool heroes throughout The Octonauts: Above and Beyond. And even more titles have green moments of dialogue, backdrop, or action, like Ginny's anxiety that no one cares about the planet in Ginny & Georgia or Phil Rosenthal discovering he likes plant-rich meals in Somebody Feed Phil.

While we've made progress this second year, we still have a long way to go. We'll update you along the way and share what we've learned, so continue watching for more.

1 Third-party validated as a science-based target by non-profit SBTi.org to cut absolute emissions by 46%. 2 There is no universal standard or definition for the term Net Zero at the organizational level. At Netflix, we work to reduce our carbon footprint at the speed climate science prescribes and then compensate for emissions we can't yet reduce by matching them with credits. Since FY20 we have engaged EY, an independent accounting firm, to perform a review of our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, including application of renewable energy credits (RECs) and carbon credits. Our ESG reports include a link to EY's assurance letters. 3 While we await harmonized guidance from the organizations bringing greater transparency to the voluntary carbon market, we continue to use our publicly-available 5 Screening Criteria (p.19) and will share the full list of crediting projects in our ESG report, as we did

LINK:	https://about.netflix.com/en/news/our-progress-on-sustainability-two-y...
	See more stories from netflix

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

19/03/2026

How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games

How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games Chris Bolte '16 is a technical sound designer at Sucker Punch Productions, where he helps create the...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026