In 2022 five production companies in Finland have tested a UK-developed Albert toolkit to reduce GHG emissions of their selected film and TV productions. From today onwards, the international Albert-system is available for all film and TV production professionals in Finland. In Finland the system is managed by Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI, Finland’s trade association for producers of audiovisual content. Sanoma supports the project.
The use of Albert is a part of Finnish Film and TV industry-wide sustainability strategy aiming to develop social, cultural, economic, and ecological sustainability. Collective data on the environmental effects of film and TV productions in Finland has been missing, so the strategy concentrates first on ecology. Production companies need to register as Albert users after which the productions will have free access to a carbon calculator, and the opportunity to aim for a certification. APFI will organize online sustainability trainings regularly.
”Sanoma´s sustainability strategy aims to minimise climate impacts throughout the value chain, in addition to minimising own operations GHG emissions. This is why we want to encourage our partner production companies to join the project and use the Albert tool to analyse and learn about the impact productions have as well as to develop reduction initiatives. The Finnish media-industry has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2035 and this project is a great example of a industry-wide initiative we need to tackle the climate crisis” says Head of Domestic Entertainment Mirko Baas, Nelonen Media Finland.
According to Carys Taylor, the Director of Albert, collaboration with Finland and APFI is a key to tackling the climate crisis: “The albert toolkit was built with the global media industry in mind, allowing productions across the world to work out the carbon footprint of their production using local carbon factors whilst equally collaborating with production companies in other countries.” In the UK albert has been in use since 2011 and to reduce emissions, Taylor says there are three areas everyone should focus on: “'Communication, planning and having management and heads of departments on board.”
In Finland, the use of Albert has been piloted in early 2022 by five production companies: Tekele Productions, Fisher King Oy, Endemol Shine Finland, Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland Oy and Yleisradio, which collaborated with Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Dance Brothers, a series' produced by Max Malka and production manager Nina Erwes consider sustainability to be one of the cornerstones of producing. “There has been a lot to learn
about albert when routines and all the data don’t yet exist. Different facts about consumption are outlined when using the system, which in turn allows for a better response to consumption,” Malka and Erwes sum up
their experience of the pilot phase.
In Finland, the administration of the system is centralized for APFI and its Sustainability Manager Anne Puolanne: “APFI's role is to be a concrete helping hand for productions that want to adopt new tools. The
productions make their own decisions, but we can steer where it's important to focus.” According to Puolanne, the pilot phase proved that Finland is alread0y very sustainable in some respects, but on the other hand the sample is very small: "Only now we’ll be able to start to build an overall picture of the industry's operations, after which it will be possible to decide in which areas the industry should develop first."
Learn more about the partners, Albert -project and APFI here.
More information on joining the Albert-project in Finland:
Anne Puolanne, Sustainability Manager / APFI
+358 50 387 6380, firstname.lastname (a) apfi.fi
Finnish production companies who want to register as albert users can contact: albert (a) apfi.fi
Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI is Finland’s trade association for film and TV producers. As trade association for film and TV producers. APFI is tasked with representing the interests of producers in the field of audiovisual content production, promoting internationalisation, and
organising industry events and competitions. It is also responsible for the collective management of copyrights. Learn more: apfi.fi
Albert is the leading screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability. Founded in 2011, Albert supports the film and TV industry to reduce the environmental impacts of production and to create content that supports a vision for a sustainable future. The BAFTA-owned, industry-backed organisation offers online tools and training, events, practical guidance and thought leadership to all screen industry professionals to help them identify and act upon opportunities on
and off screen which can lead to effective climate action. Learn more: wearealbert.org
