Albert Sustainable Production Certification

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Albert Certified Production
Copy of albert-logo-stacked-white-background.png
The current Albert logo
Standards organization BAFTA
Effective regionUnited Kingdom and Ireland
Effective since1996 (as a television company) 2011 (as a environmental organisation)
Product category Television and film production
Type of standardIndustrial
Legal statusAdvisory
Website wearealbert.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Albert (stylised as albert) is an environmental organisation aiming to encourage sustainable film and television production. Albert began as a project at the BBC, in 1996. [1] [2] but was adopted by BAFTA early on. [3]

Contents

Initially, Albert offered the industry a bespoke carbon calculator to measure the impact of its productions. The calculator allows a production to calculate its predicted carbon footprint from pre- to post-production. Productions can then go through the certification process, where they implement sustainable production techniques to reduce carbon emissions where possible, and offsets where it is not. Productions that successfully complete certification are awarded a 1, 2 or 3 star certificate and given use of the Albert Certified Production logo on their credits.

Currently, all BBC, ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, Sky and Netflix productions in the UK are required to register their carbon footprint using the Albert carbon calculator. [4]

Initiatives

Besides its carbon calculator, Albert is involved in promoting sustainability in other areas of the screen industry.

Green Rider

In May 2019, Albert launched the "Green Rider" project in association with Spotlight. [5] The Green Rider takes its name from the Inclusion Rider, as a way to champion climate action through an actor’s contract, calling for good environmental practices to be observed on set. For example, requesting plant-based catering, low energy lighting, or for the production company to agree to a ‘zero to landfill’ policy for its sets. [6]

Creative Energy

Albert started the Creative Energy project in 2017, which enables production companies to switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier. The supplier that Albert partners with is reviewed every year based on ‘green’ criteria. The current supplier is Good Energy. [7] Additionally, creative offsets is another upcoming Albert scheme which allows productions to offset/mitigate their environmental impact with carbon offsetting schemes. [8]

Planet Placement

In 2019 Albert launched "Planet Placement", an initiative to include sustainability messaging in media. [9] [10]

Screen New Deal

In September 2020, Albert launched the "Screen New Deal" report in association with the British Film Institute and Arup as a route-map to help film production transition to net zero emissions by 2050. [11] The report explores and gives examples of how more sustainable practices can be implemented across the film and TV industries. [12]

Directorate

Albert's strategy and development is supported by a commissioning directorate. The directorate currently consists of the BBC, ITV, C4, Sky, Netflix and BT Sport. [13]

Productions with Albert certification

Productions that meet the criteria for sustainability are awarded one, two or three stars.

Three stars

YearProduction [14]
2020 Red Dwarf: The Promised Land
2017 Emmerdale
2017 The Big Spell
2016/2017 Red Dwarf (series 11 & 12)
2016 Power Monkeys
2016 Trollied (series 6)
2016 Loose Women (series 20) [15]
2016 Pointless
2016 Have I Got News for You
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream
2016 Inside No. 9 (series 3)
2016 Let's Go Club
2016 Upstart Crow (series 1)
2016 Yonderland (series 3)
2016 EastEnders [16]
2016 Rovers
2016 Andy's Prehistoric Adventures
2015 Blue Peter (series 58)
2015 Downton Abbey (series 6)
2015 The Graham Norton Show (series 17)
2015 The Interceptor
2015 Casualty
2014 Trollied (series 4)
2014 Coronation Street

Two stars

YearProduction [14]
2023 Sonar Events: Basketball England
2017 Hollyoaks
2017 Good Morning Britain
2016 Witless
2016 Zapped (series 1)
2016 Monkeys: An Amazing Animal Family
2016 The South Bank Show
2016 Birds of a Feather
2016 The Voice (series 5)
2016 Grantchester (series 2)
2016 Agatha Raisin (series 1)
2016 Stan Lee's Lucky Man (series one)
2016 The Tunnel (series 2)
2016 Boomers (series 2)
2015 Cuffs (series 1)
2015 The Apprentice (series 11)
2015 The Naked Choir
2015 TT Races
2015 Still Open All Hours
2015 A League of Their Own (series 9)
2014 W1A (series 2)
2015 A Long Long Crime Ago
2015 Desi Rascals
2015 Premier League World
2015 Ross Kemp: Extreme World (series 4)
2015 Gigglebiz (series 4)
2015 Love It Or List It (series 1)
2014/2015 Children's Presentation
2014/2015 Spring/Autumn/Winterwatch
2014 CBBC Live (Gateshead)
2014 MasterChef (series 10)
2014 Invictus Games
2014 From There to Here
2013 All at Sea

One star

YearProduction [14]
2016 Henry IX
2016Young, Free and Single: Live (series 1)
2015 Educating Cardiff
2015 You, Me and the Apocalypse
2015 All Over the Place – Europe
2014 Siblings (series 2)
2014 Swashbuckle
2013 4 O'Clock Club
BBC Music Awards
Midnight Mass + Come Join the Celebration

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References

  1. "Environmental sustainability". bbc.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. "BBC - albert certification - Corporate Responsibility". 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. "BAFTA's Sustainability Efforts". www.bafta.org. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  4. "Production Tools". Albert. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. "ALBERT Launches the Green Rider". www.spotlight.com. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  6. "BAFTA-Backed Sustainability Project Launches Green Rider for Actors | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. "Just be good". www.goodenergy.co.uk. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  8. "Creative Offsets". Albert. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  9. Smith, Steve (2019). "Planet Placement: a new resource to future-proof our industry". Directors UK. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  10. "Planet Placement Guide". Futerra. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  11. "Sustainability report proposes step-change for UK film production". BFI. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  12. "Screen New Deal". Albert. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  13. "Our community". Albert. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 "Certifications". Albert. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  15. "ITV's Loose Women Certified As An Albert+ Sustainable Production". ITV Studios. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  16. "Eco-Enders – EastEnders earns top sustainability award". EastEnders. BBC. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

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