Netflix, the leading online streaming platform in the world has also maintained a strong focus on sustainability.
Apart from focusing on entertaining the world, it has also focused on making the world a more habitable place.
Just like many other large technology brands, that are investing heavily in minimizing their carbon footprint, Netflix is also investing in reducing its environmental footprint and making processes more sustainable.
It has set environmental goals and made policies to guide action environmental action throughout the organization.
Apart from its own internal projects, the company is also investing in external projects throughout the world in various corners.
In 2020, the carbon footprint of the company was roughly one million metric tons.
Around half of it was from the physical production of the programs people watch on Netflix and its corporate operations. Nearly 45% of the carbon footprint came from the purchased goods and 5% from its cloud partners including AWS and Open Connect.
The company has set the goal to achieve net zero carbon footprint by the end of year 2022.
It has also set the goal to reduce its internal emissions by 45% compared to 2019 by 2030.
Netflix is also investing in external projects like the protection of forests.
It is financing projects that help restore the nature’s ability to store CO2.
There are three steps in its Net Zero + Nature plan which are as follows:
Reduce:
The company will reduce its internal emissions on a 1.5*C pathway in alignment with climate science and partner with its suppliers to address indirect emissions.
Retain:
The company will invest in projects that retain nature’s existing carbon storage, protect forests and prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere. It will also invest in other high impact projects that are aligned with climate science.
Remove:
In the third step, the company will remove carbon from the atmosphere through restoration and regeneration of natural ecosystems. Netflix will also focus especially on projects that advance sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity, climate resilience and environmental justice.
Netflix is also investing in creating compelling content that improves people’s environmental awareness. There are several such programs on Netflix including series and films like Our Planet, and the academy Award winning My Octopus Teacher, and classics like The Day After Tomorrow or Chasing Coral.
These programs have helped millions of viewers understand environmental issues better.
How Netflix calculates its carbon footprint?
Netflix converts all relevant GHGs covered by the Kyoto protocol into metric tons of carbon di oxide equivalents as specified by the GHG protocol.
How will Netflix reduce its internal emissions?
Its plan of reducing internal emissions is aligned with the scientific guidance of limiting global warming to less than 1.5*C.
Using 2019 as its base year, Netflix plans to achieve a 45% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030. It plans to achieve this target using a three-step process:
Optimize:
The company ill focus first on achieving operational efficiencies. It will make sure that the easiest and most cost-effective reductions are achieved first. In this regard, it can take steps like hiring local crew to avoid travel and lodging. It will also provide employees with commuting options.
Apart from it, the company will install content delivery caches close to member locations to reduce the traffic on transmission networks.
Electrify:
The company plans to transition away from fossil fuel resources to electricity since it is easier to decarbonize electricity compared to liquid fuels. So, wherever possible, the company will replace fossil fuel energy resources with electricity or zero emissions fuel resources.
In this regard, the company will install additional power at stages and use clean and noiseless mobile battery units to reduce the need for diesel generators. It will also offer free charging and parking for electric vehicles to encourage their use among employees.
Decarbonize:
The company will buy 100% renewable electricity and where electrification is infeasible, it will buy renewable fuels. It will opt into local renewable energy programs to power its offices. Netflix will also install onsite photovoltaics and 100% renewable energy green tariffs in select locations. The company will also encourage data centers and other technology partners to actively decarbonize their energy supply.
In 2019 and 2020, wherever possible, the company procured 100% renewable electricity including directly from providers in select regions and by purchasing credits (Renewable Energy Credits) where the electricity was consumed.
Netflix has partnered with several organizations in this area with outstanding expertise to benefit from their research and make its sustainability program more effective. It has also established an independent advisory group of experts that advise Netflix about the best approach to sustainability. This advisory group is composed of individual experts and institutional representatives that are known for their exceptional knowledge and expertise in the area of scientific research and sustainability.
Some of the leading organizations that Netflix has partnered with to advance its sustainability program include the following:
- WWF
- Environmental Defense fund
- Climate Outreach
- ENGIE Impact
- Fraunhofer IZM
- Global Optimism
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Natural resources Defense Council
- University of Bristol
- University of California Santa Barbara
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
- Rare
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
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