Our commitment to sustainability

The last IPCC report is clear. It is “code red” for humanity. Our actions are affecting the climate in unprecedented and in some cases in irreversible ways. We must protect the environment and change our habits. To reverse the trend is everyone’s responsibility. We all must be conscious of our impact and role.

Often Airline, Agri-food, or Fashion industries comes to top of mind when talking about the responsibility of business activities on climate change, but rarely the Media and Entertainment industry is mentioned. While producing content, distribute it and monetize it, contribute to greenhouse gases!

At RTL NL sustainable development is a hot topic for us, and we have started to actively address this strategic and crucial issue since 2020, influencing more and more on how we do business.

Engagement towards a carbon-neutral activity

Because our fans — viewers, users or subscribers — are more and more concerned about climate change and how the products they use are aligned with their values and expectations; because as a media company we play an outstanding role in reflecting society and shaping of public opinion; because our competitors and other players around us also start to take actions; because our advertisers sell more and more green products and are looking for responsible media to work with …. for all those reasons, we are committed to become a carbon-neutral company and we are striving towards sustainability.

It means that all our activities, from our buildings to the type of equipment we use to work daily, and especially the products and services that we develop and buy, must emit zero CO2 emissions. It will be a long journey to fully change our habits and mindset. We believe that being more responsible is a necessary shift that will bring value.

Measure and understand our CO2 emissions

To achieve this goal of neutrality we are following the traditional trio: measure, reduce, compensate. Regularly measure our carbon footprint, to understand correctly where our carbon emissions come from. Then, reduce those emissions, by moving to green energy sources, by optimizing our processes to get more efficiency, by working with business partners committed to address with us the carbon issue. And finally, for the unavoidable emissions, compensate with carbon offsetting programs — here we are working with our parent company Bertelsmann to benefit from their investment in forestation project in Brazil, to capture CO2 in the atmosphere.

Based on the two first carbon footprint audits we conducted for the years 2019 and 2020, we now have clearer indications on where to focus our efforts on reduction. Our first source of Greenhouse gases is content production, with a share of more than 60% of our emissions. Especially due to all the travel required for the production, by plane, by car, or by truck, and due to the energy required for lighting and for the shooting, content production is a vast domain to address.

In 2019 and 2020, the second source of greenhouse gases of our activity came from the advertising technology we use to monetise our digital video inventories. The large volume of data required to serve digital ads, in a targeted way, was responsible for about a quarter of our carbon footprint. Before Covid, the third main cause of CO2 at RTL was the daily commute by car to the office. Now with a more hybrid way of working, less time traveling to the office means less CO2 emitted.

Reduce our footprint and influence our industry

Following our first insights, the steps of our journey in 2021 and 2022 are focused on measuring the carbon impact of each content production, with a tool called Albert. Getting granular data for each show that we buy or produce is the best way to reduce our CO2 emissions, and to properly implement green standards of production, for example using renewable energy for the lighting in Studios, or new travel policies and use of abroad filming organisation.

On the monetization side we have recently started a project with our sales house AdAlliance which is about offering carbon neutral campaigns to our advertisers. Compared to 2019 and 2020 we have reduced a lot our CO2 emissions by moving to a new ad server system, SmartClip, and for the remaining and unavoidable carbon emissions we will compensate with carbon offsetting. From 2022, buying and running ad campaigns on our inventories will be carbon neutral.

About our offices, it is already quite “green” and a lot is happening. The energy we used is 100% renewable (wind-based). Overall, 70% of the lighting of all buildings is LED-based, and reaching 100% in our new building in the Media Park. Our facility management team has also improved all our systems for water and waste management. And company car fleet is moving to electric vehicles. Create a sustainable work environment is fundamental to lead change.

Change the mindset

Sustainability is a strategic topic. It is a long-term commitment requiring a shift in our attitude, not tomorrow, but today! As with any change it will create conflict and we will have to learn.

One of the key learning of our first carbon footprint audits is that most of our CO2 emissions are coming from 3rd parties we work with, external producers or vendors. In order to limit our impact on the environment we have to push, to connect and align with our business partners.

And besides our business partners, we must challenge our own habits and our own colleagues, act more responsibly, and do business in a sustainable way.

Let us save this planet, together!