Cambridge leads on reducing climate impact at London Book Fair
Experts from Cambridge University Press led discussions on how the publishing industry can reduce its climate impact by tackling Scope 3 emissions at the London Book Fair on 14 March.
The open and detailed briefing about the Press's carbon reduction journey aims to help the wider publishing industry become more sustainable.
What is Scope 3?
"In publishing, it's estimated that over 70 percent of carbon emissions are Scope 3," Tristan Collier, Cambridge University Press Channel Marketing Director, explained to a packed audience gathered at London Book Fair's Sustainability Hub.
Scope 3 emissions - which are indirect emissions from a publisher's supply chain - include paper and print, freight, and technology hardware.
Tristan Collier, Channel Marketing Director for Cambridge University Press
Tristan Collier, Channel Marketing Director for Cambridge University Press
Cambridge's Tristan Collier and Emily Cockburn
Cambridge's Tristan Collier and Emily Cockburn
Data driven
Emily Cockburn, Cambridge's Content and Supply Chain Operations Director
Emily Cockburn, Cambridge's Content and Supply Chain Operations Director
Reducing Scope 3 carbon emissions from paper and print, freight, and technology is critical for the Press, and for all publishers, to achieve carbon zero. Many publishers are tackling direct emissions such as heating and lighting (which are Scope 1 and 2) but indirect Scope 3 emissions are a far bigger challenge.
"Cambridge University Press is now exploring a preliminary target to reduce our Scope 3 carbon emissions. We anticipate our academic publishing business will aim to reduce emissions by around one third by 2027."
She added: "Paper and print contribute the majority of our Scope 3 emissions, while freight currently contributes much less."
Achieving ambitious targets
Cambridge University Press is working collaboratively with suppliers and partners to reach its ambitious goals. Cockburn set out the extensive measures the Press is taking to reduce its carbon footprint:
- setting a target of being 95 percent Print on Demand, (or 'POD'), by 2025 through expansion of POD locations to include Asia.
- reducing the number of trim size options and choosing POD compatible format options on books
- switching 70 percent of print journals to digital by 2030.
- making 95 percent of our journal wrapping from paper, not plastic, by the end of 2024.
- working with sustainability partners – such as the Book Chain Project and Ecovardis – to understand the impact of our supply chain.
Measuring digital emissions
"We are going above and beyond to understand our carbon emissions by measuring Scope 3 emissions from digital too."
"Mike Berners-Lee, author of an important Cambridge book on sustainability, There is No Planet B, has warned that tech related emissions will double by 2025, " Collier continued.
Through data analysis, including tools such as DIMPACT, Cambridge University Press has mapped carbon emissions from online content hosting platforms. These are on the increase but in 2022 formed less than ten percent of the carbon emissions from paper, print and freight.
Collier noted two key factors for publishers wanting to measure their digital carbon emissions; location (and the different energy sources used by different countries); and web page content - Cambridge has recently published a guide to raise awareness and share best practice, in partnership with Wholegrain Digital.
Transparency
Questions from audience members covered the impact of AI on digital emissions, the issue of privacy moving from print to digital, why Cambridge was changing how it operates rather than offsetting carbon, and the future for distributors faced by printing on demand. The Cambridge University Press presenters were thanked for sharing work in detail with colleagues across the publishing community.
Answering audience questions
Answering audience questions
In closing comments, the message from Cambridge was about contributing to a shared pool of knowledge, and working collaboratively across the industry to scale up global progress towards increasing sustainability in publishing.
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