The Creative Industries Pact for Sustainable Action was launched by the Green Spark Group in December 2019 at COP25 as a means of uniting organizations working in film, TV and beyond in a pledge to take action on a set of common climate goals. Already, more than 70 signatories—including public organizations, corporations, film schools, film commissions and more—have come on board, committing to reduce their environmental footprint in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement and with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

 

“Connect4Climate is a signatory to the Pact,” says Giulia Braga, Connect4Climate program manager. “We are proud to see how the foundational work by many has evolved, and how organizations are seeing the value in committing to common goals. We all agree that action is needed to reduce our impacts, and there’s strength in saying this and taking action collectively.”

 

Responding directly to the dire findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Pact asks that its endorsees work collaboratively within and across their various industries to keep global warming well below 2°C. This means establishing useful sustainability metrics, educating and empowering employees, cutting back on fuel consumption and other unclean energy use, embracing low-carbon materials and foods, and advocating outwardly for sustainable policymaking. The organizations that have signed on must report out on their progress every other year beginning with 2020.

 

 

On February 7, our Film4Climate team had the honor of hosting a panel discussion in Brussels at the first-ever European Co-Production Forum. Titled “A Green Light for Green Production” and moderated by Connect4Climate Program Manager Giulia Braga, this discussion assessed recent strides in sustainable production across the film and television industries, suggested next steps on how to boost international collaboration around sustainability, and addressed the need to see sustainable lifestyles better represented onscreen in narratives as well as behind the scenes.

 

The goals of the Pact dovetail perfectly with Film4Climate’s own mission to usher sustainable living into both the making of films and the stories they tell. We at Connect4Climate are excited to carry forward the momentum from Brussels and spread the dual messages of the Pact and Film4Climate worldwide to steer the entertainment industry toward a sustainable future.

 

All photography by Kaia Rose of the Connect4Climate Team.

Connect4Climate has long embraced the value of the creative arts as a means of spreading the messages of climate action and sustainability. Film4Climate, C4C’s initiative aimed at “greening the silver screen,” has found success supporting both climate-positive messaging in onscreen narratives and climate-positive practice in production cycles behind the scenes. On February 7, Film4Climate is proud to be hosting a panel at the first-ever European Co-Production Forum assessing the state of sustainable film production in Europe and laying out goals for the near future.

 

Film4Climate’s mission is embodied in the initiative’s International Charter, a document painstakingly compiled between 2013 and 2018 with inputs from film festivals, film commissions, producers, advocacy groups (such as EcoProd, PGA Green, Green Film Shooting, and Cine-Regio) and various cross-sections of the film industry. In 2019, Film4Climate’s mandate was bolstered when Connect4Climate partner Green Spark, led by Zena Harris out of Vancouver, launched the Creative Industries Pact for Sustainable Action, exhorting those in the creative industries to commit to furthering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and to keeping net global temperature change below 2°C vis-à-vis pre-Industrial levels. The Pact’s many signatories include major universities and the World Economic Forum.

For the past several years, Film4Climate has been hard at work putting the principles behind the Charter and Pact into action, championing climate-positive films such as Slater Jewell-Kemker’s Youth Unstoppable and Jared P. Scott’s The Great Green Wall (starring beloved Malian singer Inna Modja) and hosting sustainability-minded contests like the Action4Climate film competition of 2014, the Global Video Competition of 2016, the #Uniting4Climate VR Pitch Competition in 2017, and Film4Climate’s annual Post-Production Award competition in partnership with Laser Film.

 

The Film4Climate team’s deep experience working with members of the industry on green production earned C4C an invitation to this year’s European Co-Production Forum, a first-of-its-kind event that will convene key players from all across the European film and TV sectors in Brussels for an open discussion of what values the production industry should embrace moving forward and how its members can work together to realize those ideals.

 

Film4Climate’s panel, titled A Green Light for Green Production and moderated by C4C Program Manager Giulia Braga, will play a vital role in framing the overarching conversation and driving further adoption of sustainable practices throughout the industry. Made up of Cine-Regio’s Charlotte Appelgren, the European Film Academy’s Mike Downey, Make Waves Productions’ Sarah Macdonald, and Creative Europe Media’s Lucía Recalde, the panel will discuss the recent progress of sustainable filmmaking in Europe and brainstorm strategies to scale up international collaboration and increase support for climate-related content in film moving forward.

 

Thumbnail, banner, and body images courtesy of Pixabay users Joaquin Aranoa, Dimitri Svetsikas and Erika Wittlieb, respectively.

The water sector is energy-hungry, with energy consumption by the sector equivalent to all the energy used by Australia. In 2014, around 4% of global electricity consumption was used to extract, distribute, and treat water and wastewater as well as 50 million tons of oil equivalent of thermal energy.

By 2040, the amount of energy used in the water sector is likely to double due to trends including increased desalination, large-scale water transfers, and increasing demand for wastewater treatment, as well as higher levels of treatment.

The energy used to supply water and clean used water is responsible for around 3–8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With global demand for water projected to increase by 55% by 2050, a business-as-usual scenario will see emissions increasing by 50% in the same timeframe.

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay 

Decoupling Emissions from GDP Growth

As part of the San Diego’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for clean and renewable energy to be generated via a combination of on-site and large-scale renewables, San Diego’s Public Utilities Department has a forward-thinking renewable energy program that generates more renewable energy from water and wastewater than any other San Diego Gas & Electric customer. In addition to reducing water-energy-climate nexus challenges, the program has contributed towards the city’s 21% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2010 baseline (at the same time GDP growth has increased by 35%).

Utilizing Methane

One of the by-products of the wastewater treatment process at Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant is methane gas. The gas is used to fuel two continuously running generators that can each produce up to 2,235 kilowatts of electricity. A diesel-powered generator can also burn methane and produce an additional 1,220 kilowatts as a peaking generator. By utilizing the methane gas, it means the site is energy self-sufficient, with excess power generated sold back to the grid.

At the Metropolitan Biosolids Center, which produces dewatered biosolids that are around 30% solids and 70% water, methane produced by the digesters and from the adjacent Miramar Landfill is converted to electricity, which is used to run the facility. Thermal energy produced by the generators is used to heat the plant, as well as for air conditioning of the center.

Image from Pixabay 

The Sun’s Power

At three Public Utilities Facilities, solar photovoltaic systems have been installed:

• Alvarado Wastewater Treatment Plant has installed a 1.1-megawatt system, producing 1.4 million kilowatt-hours annually
• Metropolitan Operations Center III has installed a 30 kilowatt (AC) rooftop solar system that produces 45,000 kilowatt-hours annually
• Otay Water Treatment Plant has an 804 kilowatt (AC) system that produces 1.5 million kilowatt-hours annually​

The Takeaway

Water utilities have multiple renewable energy options available to reduce water-energy-climate nexus pressures.

About the Author

Robert is the author of Urban Water Security (Wiley), The Green Economy and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (Palgrave Macmillan), Blue and Green Cities: The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban Water Resources (Palgrave Macmillan), Natural Resource Management and the Circular Economy (Palgrave Macmillan), and Climate Resilient Water Resources Management (Palgrave Macmillan).

He is the editor of the Climate Resilient Societies book series with Palgrave Macmillan. Robert is a contributing author for the World Bank's Water Blog, Asian Development Bank's Blog, United Nations Industrial Development Organization's Making It Magazine, and Green Growth Knowledge Platform. He has published widely on water security, water resources management, and related issues, and has conducted field research around the world, including Antarctica. He is Founder of Mitidaption, Mark and Focus, and Our Future Water.  ​

New York, NY - When I arrived at the United Nations, I felt at home; I entered with my Colombian passport and it was natural to be from somewhere other than the United States. My accent was well received and I learned that Spanish is one of the five official languages of the United Nations. 

 

I was at the first-ever Youth Climate Summit as part of the Connect4Climate #YouthTakeover team.  My background has nothing to do with the environment, climate, or global warming. I am not involved in any kind of activist program fighting climate change. And yet, I felt like I belonged. 

 

The summit purposely focused on the actions everyone can take to fight climate change. I had always thought one needed to be an activist, politician, scientist or someone like that to fight against or talk about climate change. The summit taught me that everyone has a part to play.

 

Whether your passion is sports, fashion, culinary arts, technology or business, whether you study film or are a social media influencer, you can take action to fight climate change through your individual interests and unique career path.

 

My passion is sports, so I was thrilled to learn how the sports community can help combat climate change. Danni Washington, moderator of the SDG Media Zone and the first African-American woman to host an American Science TV Show, told me about the different ways fans, sporting events committees, and athletes can contribute to climate action.

 

 

Athletes have a lot of influence among their fans. “There are so many fans around the world from so many sports. [Athletes] can use their platform to educate people and help them understand what climate change is really about,” Washington said. “They can give the general public the resources, the information, and the tools they need to make better decisions for our world.”

 

Hannah Mills, a two-time Olympic sailing champion, is using her platform to take climate action and influence other athletes, fans and sport-lovers to do the same. Mills shared at the summit her campaign “Big Plastic Pledge,” which calls on fans and athletes to get involved by making at least three pledges of a possible nine listed on the campaign website. She is on a mission to eliminate plastic from stadiums and sporting events. 

 

I had already pledged to use my own water bottle and to say no to single-use plastic shopping bags. It’s better to make small and imperfect changes than to take no action at all.

 

I practice CrossFit and know that other athletes change their diets according to their individual goals, sometimes by adding more carbs or by drinking more water. If we athletes can change our exercise regimens and diets to perform and look better, we can make small and consistent shifts in our lifestyle to help our planet. 

 

“Our planet is going through different changes because of our behavior and it’s time that we humans recognize our role in the planet and do something to fix it,” Washington told me.

 

 

My role as a sportsperson and journalist is to hold those sports committees and athletes who have pledged to help the environment accountable to their commitments and to keep reporting on how the sports community can contribute to solving this issue that affects all of us.

 

During one panel at the SDG Media Zone, two models from my native Colombia, Toya Montoya and Laura Tobon, spoke about the actions they are taking within the fashion industry. Montoya said, “A year ago, I stopped working with companies who are not environmentally friendly.” Tobon admitted to being a shopaholic but said she has learned not to buy clothes unnecessarily. 

 

Living in this social media era, I used to think I could never post a picture with the same outfit twice. This way of thinking led me to buy a new outfit every time I had an event. Montoya and Tobon expressed this concern themselves but explained that they now mix and match their outfits, buying fewer clothes and only buying from sustainable brands. 

 

At the end of the summit, representatives from the food industry showed us healthy recipes. By buying from local markets and by eating less meat we can reduce our carbon footprint.

 

 

Sustainability is about making small changes in our lifestyle because we need the earth as much as the earth needs us. As Olympic sabre fencing medalist Ibtihaj Mohammed said, “If there is no planet, there are no sports.” I never saw it that way but it’s true. If we do not have snow, most winter sports will be gone. If global warming continues, summer sports will suffer: athletes will have to hydrate more and take more breaks and supporters won’t have a pleasant time watching live events at stadiums.

 

The Youth Climate Action Summit helped me understand what it means to take action on climate. Now I am more conscious of the food I consume, the clothes I buy, the plastic I use and I am trying to educate others around me about the actions they can take.

 

As a team, we should take care of the environment the same way we take care of our bodies. Working together, we can achieve sustainable development worldwide!

 

Banner image courtesy of Evan Bradley. Remaining photos courtesy of the Connect4Climate #YouthTakeover team.

“Do you guys know what a floppy disk is?” One of my senior colleagues asked her younger co-workers over lunch at work recently. Their quizzical looks answered her question.

 

Understandable. People of my generation do not depend on floppy disks. It is tough for us to appreciate why it was impossible to use the landline and the Internet simultaneously. Memories of our family computer – a bulky deskbound computer that would heat up minutes after we’d switched it on – are tucked in the fringes of our minds. 

 

Perhaps twenty years from now we will be asking similar questions – on our progress in mitigating climate change.

 

Why Did You Guys Throw Waste Away Without a Second Thought?

 

In 2039, waste – neither data nor oil – is the new gold. Similar to major oil companies expanding their portfolios by acquiring green energy firms, mining conglomerates are rushing to invest in urban mining. Sewage is sought after as material for syngas, a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Syngas can serve as both an immediate source of fuel and an intermediary to other sources of fuel. Moreover, syngas has been proven to be a cleaner source of fuel. And just as how Impossible Burgers started to gain traction twenty years ago, people are embracing the concept of their clothes being made out of recycled plastic. 

 

All of this is thanks to technological advancements and increased economies of scale. 

 

We may have had these ideas twenty years ago in 2019, but the cost of such technology limited us. This is nothing new. Singapore had the idea of recycling water on a mass scale in the seventies. It only materialized  thirty years later in 2003, when the technology required was reliable and affordable enough to scale NEWater production.  

 

Given the technological and economic constraints back then, achieving water recycling in thirty years can be considered impressive. Now that we have a deeper recognition of the value of waste, we are taking aggressive steps to make our 2039 economy completely circular.

 

An exhibit simulating microfiltration in water treatment at the NEWater Visitor’s Centre.

 

Why Weren't Integrated Waste Management Facilities (IWMFs) Commonplace?

 

Syngas is a highlight product of waste treatment (the exact term is gasification) in IWMFs, one-stop hubs that reincarnate the different types of waste that we produce. Compared to traditional waste management plants, IWMFs are recognized to be more energy efficient and land optimising. Given that syngas is an energy source, integrated waste management facilities double as waste-to-energy facilities. 

 

These are everywhere in 2039. In other words, whatever is flushed down the toilet, whatever leftover food that was thrown away a few hours ago ends up as electricity powering washing machines and refrigerators. In a few hours, not a few days. 

 

IWMFs started out as centralized facilities, aimed at treating waste produced at the city level. Waste citywide was transported across the city to centralized IWMFs in Deep Tunnel Sewage Systems (DTSS), an equivalent of highways for waste. The idea of decentralized IWMFs came later, when stakeholders realized that it costs less to transport waste across a shorter distance and treat waste on a localized scale. Today, decentralized IWMFs are found in every district, and are responsible for generating energy for each district. They can also be found at commercial sites that are known to generate huge amounts of waste, such as shopping centers. While centralized IWMFs are more applicable for industrial purposes today, decentralized IWMFs are more prominent and relevant to our daily lives.

 

Hence, IWMFs then and now are analogous to first generation IBM computers vs. Macbooks. Both the former and the latter started out as centralized devices, evolving to decentralized, cheaper, ubiquitous and space-optimizing devices along the way.