BAFTA albert, the screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability, has published ACCELERATE 2025, a report and practical guide to sustainability for film and TV production.

Reported carbon emissions for the production industry in 2024 were nearly 175,000 tonnes – the equivalent to the annual footprint of almost 40,000 UK citizens. The report is based on voluntary data reported through the BAFTA albert calculator from over 2,500 productions – both film and television – in 2024.

The report gives a series of twelve recommendations on how production teams can reduce the industry’s carbon emissions and environmental impact by working together to make significant behavioural and purchasing changes. These include:

Reducing air travel, and switching to economy class where it is unavoidable: reducing flights by a quarter would cut 8% of carbon emissions while simply flying economy class would save 15%

Speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles for transporting people and kit: swapping a third of car journeys for EVs would take out 5% of carbon emissions

Switching all mains power to renewables: saving 6% of the overall carbon footprint

Eliminating fuel from temporary power on set: replacing diesel with HVO in the short term would save 5% of emissions, and sets teams on a path to replacing with battery power in the long term

A new approach to materials and waste, reducing the use of virgin materials like timber for set-building and sourcing second-hand clothes for costumes, alongside cutting back on the consumption of red meat and food waste

An upgrade to the collection of data to improve accuracy, particularly when it comes to materials and waste, and to integrate it with existing production accounting processes to enable teams to track sustainability in real time alongside financial budgets, assisted by BAFTA albert’s next-generation calculator which will launch in 2026.

ACCELERATE 2025 focuses on the areas which will have the most impact in reducing carbon emissions: three of the five categories cover direct actions for production teams, with practical recommendations for each.

The first looks at travel across flights, vehicles and accommodation; the second focuses on energy consumption in the studio and on set; and the third looks at materials and waste, including food, props sets, and costumes.

The fourth, culture change, sets out how to ensure that everyone involved in content-making has a clear role to play in sustainability. The report recommends an increased focus on active culture change, with a call for leadership to cascade sustainability knowledge throughout the production industry at all levels via specialist training and skills sharing, including on-screen with initiatives like the Green Rider.

The fifth outlines the importance of accurate, timely data to measure and act quickly for meaningful progress, including an assessment of the challenges that the industry currently faces here.

BAFTA albert managing director, Matt Scarff, said: “This is the UK film and TV industry’s first ever practical guide to sustainable production. It gives concrete, measurable actions which will reduce both carbon emissions and wider environmental impact.  These actions are ambitious, but they are achievable. They will require fundamental changes to the way TV and film content is made, and they will also need wider cultural change to embed sustainability at the heart of the industry at all levels, from commissioner through production teams and the vital supply chain. What we are outlining here aims to make sustainability a core part of the industry’s DNA: second nature to those working to make content.”

Ralph Lee, BAFTA albert chair, sets out the importance of this report in his foreword to the report: “According to BAFTA albert’s calculator data, film and TV productions reported nearly 175,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2024— equivalent to the annual footprint of almost 40,000 UK citizens. Though this data only reflects direct production emissions and doesn’t capture the full environmental impact of the industry as a whole, year-on-year trends in our data show that change is happening.

“While there is so much enthusiasm to change, sustainability cannot be the responsibility of one or two people: everyone has a role to play. But real change will only happen when leaders take an active role in supporting those making content: pushing for more sustainable solutions, education and better data to measure change as it happens. There is so much at stake here for future generations.”