Last June in Banff, we announced the creation of Canadian Broadcasters for Sustainability (“CB4S”) – a group of Canadian broadcasters committed to working together to increase environmentally sustainable change.

Some thought it couldn’t be done. It is the first time that such a broad and diverse group of Canadian broadcasters – public and private, different linguistic and regional markets, vastly different sizes and resources – have united to tackle a common dilemma.

It is fitting that what brought us together was the climate crisis that affects every aspect of our daily lives – our health, our finances, jobs, energy, food, water, air, security, geopolitics, justice and equity. I know personally that the sheer scale of the challenge can turn you into a ball of hopelessness and stress. But, there is reason to hope. As one recent Yale study found, acting collectively can buffer you from the effects of climate anxiety.

With that in mind, the steps that we take together as an industry can help us move forward on a challenge that feels too big and too complicated for any one organization to tackle alone.

At launch CB4S had 22 broadcasters. After our launch we picked up one more broadcaster, CPAC – so we are now a group of 23. This means that CB4S reaches 99.5% of people living in Canada who are over the age of two. We are focussed on four goals:

• increase the scope and impact of sustainability actions;
• improve efforts to produce content^[1] sustainably including how carbon impact is measured and addressed;
• reach more of our audiences with content which is informed by science and that helps everyone understand and make more sustainable choices; and
• understand and consult with marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change including Indigenous, racialized, disabled and LGBTQ2S+ communities.

Over the last 12 months, we have met many times to share information on what we are each doing, have listened to speakers to learn about others’ sustainable actions and have talked through what we might do together to increase our impact to address the climate crisis.

In another unprecedented display of Canadian broadcaster collaboration,  we are excited to share that CB4S has committed to a set of actions to advance our goals (which are laid out in our progress report, available now).  These actions represent a remarkable feat of unity given that each broadcaster is at a different stage in its effort to be sustainable and has different levels of resources.

Among our agreed actions, we will:

• create and share a sustainability plan or strategy for each broadcaster by December 1, 2024;
• offer sustainable production education to all full-time staff who have a connection to production (including carbon calculator training);
• for in-house and/or independent production, use at least one of: carbon calculator, common sustainable development checklist, common sustainable budget template, and/or common sustainable production guide;
• create and share a plan and timetable for reductions in the largest production carbon emission hotspot area – road transport;
• collaborate, support or create industry education on green storytelling; and
• participate in strategy-building and discussions about sustainability initiatives with members and organizations that represent marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.

We are hoping that our actions to consider the environment across our planning, with our staff, and as content gets produced, are meaningful steps towards transforming our industry to be more planet friendly.  To publicly capture our membership, commitments, and developments as we go along, we have created this webpage.

CB4S’ first priority is to take steps to make sure that our agreed actions get done. We are looking for industry collaborators to accelerate the impact of these actions and to reduce overlap. In the year since we have launched, there have been many remarkable steps taken by others to measure and shrink our industry’s carbon footprint and to educate the industry and audiences about what is happening to the planet and what they can do about it.

We want to shout out those industry partners including Reel Green; Ontario Green Screen; On Tourne Verte; CMPA; AQPM; Producing for the Planet; Sustainable Production Forum; Independent Production Fund; CMF and Telefilm. And a heads-up that you can still sign up for CBC’s sustainable industry learning capsule – Seeds of Change – which is happening virtually Wednesday, June 19th at 1 pm EST.

A year after the announcement of CB4S, it’s more clear than ever that we need each other to make the change we want, and need, to see happen.

And so this we pledge to all of you: we’ve only just begun.

Lisa Clarkson, CBC executive director of business and rights and production sustainability, CB4S chair

^[1]Excluding news and current affairs.

Image by Kristian Bogner. Canadian Broadcasters for Sustainability announcement at the 2023 Banff World Media Festival. From left to right: Drew Mullin, CBC; Sally Catto, CBC; Lisa Clarkson, CBC; Sam Linton, Blue Ant Media; David Errington, Accessible Media Inc.; Dany Meloul, Radio-Canada; Barbara Williams, CBC; Kathleen Meek, Corus Entertainment; Lindsay Nielsen, CHEK Media; Carlyn Klebuc, Bell Media; Julie Kumaria, Hollywood Suite; Michelle van Beusekom, Knowledge Network; and Kimberley Ball, Super Channel.