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CREATING A GREENER FUTURE

Lorraine Shah reports on how the UK’s creative industries are increasingly embracing the low-carbon agenda and making it integral to their business plans

Autumn typically heralds the start of the UK’s creative season, with London Fashion Week, London Design Festival and London Film Festival taking centre stage. Although leaves are turning to orange and brown, the UK’s fast-growing creative industry sectors, including fashion, advertising, architecture, music and publishing, are taking on a hue of green. ‘Environment’ and ‘sustainability’ are the current mots du jour, with green initiatives being adopted both at strategic and grassroots levels. Climate change is affecting most industries’ thinking, with governments across the world committed to meeting carbon-emission reduction targets. However, the UK creative industries are particularly active in this regard, setting the standards not just at home, but also, in some areas, internationally as well.


MUSIC

SUSTAINABLE SOUNDS

The UK music industry is regarded as something of an environmental trailblazer, having taken a global lead in confronting the issue of climate change.

The Julie’s Bicycle initiative, launched in 2007, works to support the development in the UK of a more environmentally friendly and sustainable music industry. Comprising a coalition of experts, it develops research projects focusing on priority areas for emissions reductions, such as CD manufacture, artist touring, venues and events. This has informed the development of a not-for-profit certification programme, Industry Green, a simple framework supporting continual improvement in environmental sustainability for creative companies. Industry Green is extended by a series of industry campaigns, project partnerships and practical resources.

“No other music industry in the world has made as much progress as the UK in working collectively to reduce its carbon footprint,” says Alison Tickell, director of Julie’s Bicycle. “The scale of engagement is growing rapidly.”

In 2009, for example, the UK’s four major record labels committed to an initial 10 per cent reduction in packaging emissions, as well as continuing with existing year-on-year reductions.

Meanwhile, leading UK music performers, such as Radiohead and KT Tunstall, are reducing the environmental impact of their tours and using their influence to promote low-carbon messages to their audiences as they perform around the globe.

Moreover, an increasing number of UK music venues are carrying out energy-efficiency audits, with many implementing new equipment and procedures as a result, while more than 25 music industry companies in the UK have signed up to Industry Green for venues, festivals and offices, and are committed to the ongoing reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions and a programme of engagement and disclosure. The UK music industry has long held a reputation for change and movement to reflect current thinking and fashion. In this regard, it has quickly reflected growing consumer ecoawareness and demonstrated leadership.


ARCHITECTURE

LOW-CARBON CONSTRUCTION

UK architectural practices are pioneers in innovative, low-carbon and sustainable design and are at the forefront of ecologically friendly, energy-efficient and aesthetically admired buildings across the world.

Ewan Willars, head of policy at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), says: “The world at large sees the UK as a real leader in the area of sustainable architecture.”

UK architects regularly win international competitions to work on sustainable projects overseas. Foster + Partners’ design for the new Berlin Reichstag, for example, incorporated a vegetable oil fuelling method which reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 94 per cent, while its Masdar City development in Abu Dhabi will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources.