Paramount U.K. Sets Out Peak Sustainability Strategy

Channel 5 announces new environmental-focused commissions to bolster content library rooted in nature, conservation and wilderness.
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October 17, 2022

Paramount LogoParamount

Paramount

has outlined an ambitious commitment to environmental sustainability with the introduction of a new strategy, Peak Sustainability, comprising seven key climate action pledges. The new commitment is designed to drive collective change across Paramount’s U.K. business and with its suppliers, partners and audiences. 

Peak Sustainability informs part of a longer-term vision for parent company, Paramount Global, which recently released its third annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, with the U.K. primed to spearhead the media organization’s global sustainability rollout. 

The announcement comes a month after Paramount Consumer Products and Nickelodeon announced the launch of

“SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change,"

a new global ocean conservation and sustainability initiative with the aim to help remove and divert five million pounds of ocean plastic over the next four years. Paramount also has a number of environmentally focused initiatives underway in the

U.S., including Paramount Pictures’ 2022 pledge to the Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. 

The foundation of Paramount UK’s ecological transition is built upon seven key pledges to: 

  • Reduce Paramount UK’s Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 46% by 2030

    • Reduce Paramount UK’s Scope 3 carbon emissions across the remainder of this decade

      • Integrate positive environmental themes throughout Paramount UK’s content output

        • Make Paramount UK's content production slate 100% albert certified by 2024

          • Collaborate with UK broadcasters on research to understand our impact and inspire change

            • Build environmental awareness and responsibility into the U.K. business 

              • Be transparent about Paramount UK’s sustainability commitments and progress

                As a directorate member of albert and signatory of The Climate Content Pledge, free-to-air broadcaster, Channel 5, is known for its deep library of programming anchored in environmental themes such as nature, seasonality and the countryside, from signature shows such as “Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild” and its slate of rural programs, to children’s series, “Go Green with the Grimwades” and partnerships with celebrated natural world institutions such as The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

                Channel 5 continues to bolster its portfolio with two new commissions: “Natural History Museum: Saving Planet Earth” and “Britain’s Poisoned Rivers: What Can You Do?” Aimed at raising awareness of the issues surrounding the global climate and nature crisis and encouraging positive behavioral change amongst its British audience, the new series will air in 2023.  

                Paramount UK will implement a raft of new measures designed to further embed sustainability and its seven commitments into its culture including:  

                • Building a dedicated Sustainability Team, responsible for accelerating the work already under way

                  • Establishing a Sustainability Board, allying its senior management team with employees to hold leadership to account and influence key decisions

                    • Creating a new employee-led sustainability working group to help strengthen Paramount UK’s commitment and champion green initiatives

                      • An ongoing suite of training and engaging events and activities through its internal environmentally themed Spark World week and beyond     

                        • Exploring the rollout of an electric vehicle loan scheme for London-based employees via sustainable government tax benefits

                          In addition, to reducing its Scope 3 emissions, Paramount UK will consider environmental impact and the sustainability ambitions and credentials of prospective suppliers in choosing its key partners. 

                          “As a media company and public service broadcaster that entertains and informs millions of people in the U.K., we must use our powerful voice to shape culture and social attitudes,” says Maria Kyriacou, president, chief executive officer, Paramount UK. “Our Peak Sustainability campaign and the pledges we have made, will help us drive change and chart a path towards decarbonization which is not only a business imperative, but essential for the future of our planet.” 

                          Paramount plans to use the findings from this ongoing U.K. pilot to assess its approach to scaling its efforts across its company-wide, global emissions footprint.

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