The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (Canadian Academy) is introducing a Sustainable Production Award to recognize productions that integrate green practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

The award was announced on Tuesday (April 11) by CBC’s Lisa Clarkson, executive director, business and rights and production sustainability, and David Hardy, VP, sustainability and stakeholder affairs at William F. White International during a sustainable production panel at the Canadian Academy’s Members Lounge, which runs until Friday (April 14) as part of Canadian Screen Week.

The inaugural award will be presented during Canadian Screen Week 2024. It was created by the Canadian Academy’s Sustainability Committee, which includes Hardy as well as Zena Harris, founder and president of Green Spark Group; Leaticia Kaggwa, environmental sustainability lead, CBC; Elizabeth Wong, manager, operations and partnerships at Bullfrog Power; and Academy staff, working in collaboration with the Sustainable Production Forum.

The committee will create a short list of productions that meet the award criteria, which will be published this summer. Producers on those projects will then be invited to submit for the award with documents outlining their practices. The Canadian Academy’s Award Committee will recommend a recipient, to be approved by the board of directors.

“It is more important than ever to integrate these practices in all facets of our lives, and it is heartening to see the evolution of the screen-based industries to ensure that sustainability is a key factor in all production decisions,” Canadian Academy CEO Tammy Frick said in a statement.

According to a 2021 report from the Sustainable Production Alliance, the average carbon footprint from 159 one-hour scripted dramas was 77 metric tons of GHG per episode.

As a guide for producers, the Canadian Academy has a Sustainable Production Toolkit on its website, including a carbon calculator based on the U.K. screen industry’s albert system, a green production checklist and a green vendor directory.

“Media has a powerful role to play in helping society understand our changing planet, and that means we need to inject environmental thinking into everything we do,” said Clarkson.

CBC has previously used the albert carbon calculator with in-house productions like Gary’s Magic Fort and Family Feud Canada. The public broadcaster also set a carbon footprint requirement for English-language productions with a budget of $400,000 or above, which went into effect in January 2022.

Photo from the Canadian Screen Awards on April 11, 2023. Credit: George Pimentel Photography