Talking sustainable publishing at Frankfurt Book Fair

2024 was a big year for sustainability at Cambridge University Press. To share more about our environmental initiatives, challenges, and outcomes, Cambridge held a talk on sustainability on Thursday 17 October at the 76th Frankfurt Book Fair. Surrounded by fellow publishing industry leaders, it was the right place and right time to give this topic a platform.

Nina Wallis, Senior Marketing Manager at Cambridge University Press, shared her thoughts after giving talks at Frankfurt Book Fair

The event saw Cambridge’s Head of Supply Chain Operations John Gorrod and Senior Marketing Manager Nina Wallis speak to an engaged audience about how publishers – including Cambridge – can better address indirect greenhouse gas emissions. These are emissions created as a result of activities in publishers’ supply chains, such as the manufacture of paper, print and freight use.

There are many ways publishers can reduce their indirect greenhouse gas emissions – and Cambridge has tested quite a few of these.

Print-on-demand helps reduce environmental impact

A proven strategy for publishers to cut indirect emissions is by reducing usage of paper as well as freight.

To this end, Cambridge has been adopting a print-on-demand model, meaning that we only print in accordance with customer demand.

This means:

We use less paper, both in printing products and in packaging them.
We reduce freight costs and associated emissions by printing closer to the customer.
We reduce stock wastage.
And – a happy flow-on effect – print-on-demand effectively improves product availability and reduces customer lead times.

Currently, close to 80 percent of Cambridge’s frontlist is made available through a print-on-demand model, and 70 percent of our backlist catalogue is now available using print-on-demand services.

John Gorrod said: “Cambridge’s original goal was to reduce the paper printing of our journals by 70 percent by 2030, and to ensure that all remaining printed products were created in as sustainable a way as possible. However, we are in fact on track to meet this goal by next year, if not beforehand.”

He added that print-on-demand is a success story of a publishing model, too, given less transportation of printed products means less paper or plastic packaging involved in moving them around. Cambridge has also switched out the majority of our print journals’ plastic packaging, with 98 percent being replaced by paper packaging.

Audience listening to Nina and John's presentation at the Frankfurt event

Going digital can bring great carbon dividends

Internet usage and digital content also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. So how is Cambridge going about simultaneously switching to more digital platforms and keeping our emissions from technology low?

Nina Wallis explained: “Our objective is also to cut our carbon emissions from digital technology hardware and software.

“Cambridge saw an increase in carbon emissions from our digital academic platforms between 2019 and 2022 as we moved continuously from print to digital. However, in 2023 – following energy efficiency improvements to our data centres, many of which are in Ireland and run on renewable energy – these emissions fell significantly.

“Moving forward, we anticipate that having switched from print to digital will mean that Cambridge reduces its greenhouse gas emissions year on year, especially as the energy we use becomes less carbon intensive as policymakers and regulators place further emphasis on investment in renewables.”

Sustainability has been a major theme at Cambridge's stand at Frankfurt book fair. There's a green stand writting 'A better future for our planet' at the zone.

Why Cambridge is embracing change

Change can be time-consuming and stressful, both for businesses – such as publishers – and for individuals.

However, as Nina Wallis summarised, Cambridge has deliberately chosen to change how we go about our work, precisely because we understand that to adapt to and mitigate the climate emergency, choosing not to change is not a long-term solution.

Nina emphasised: “We are actively choosing to reduce our carbon emissions by changing the way we are operating, instead of using carbon offsetting.

“Cambridge and our parent university are committed to only using offsetting as a last resort to offset unavoidable carbon emissions. Changing the way our business operates will have a quicker and deeper impact on achieving carbon zero.

“As leaders in the publishing industry, we wanted to show that this could be done – and we have succeeded. Cambridge is embracing sustainability, and it’s a priority we will continue to emphasise.”

Visitors sitting at Cambridge zone atg Frankfurt book fair, reading books published by Cambridge University Press

Cambridge makes lasting mark at Frankfurt

Cambridge’s sustainability talk was just one of the many ways Cambridge engaged with publishing industry leaders and stakeholders at the Frankfurt Bookfair this year.

Cambridge’s Managing Director of Academic Publishing, Mandy Hill, spoke with multiple journalists, authors and agents about AI and the ongoing – and growing – importance of academic publishing in an era of misinformation.

Cambridge’s stand was also a lively and exciting place to be, with many of our recently published books – ranging from Adultish by Dr Charlotte Markey to The Conservative Effect, edited by Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton – catching eyes and starting conversations.

And of course, our sales team was busy throughout the bookfair, securing international publishing deals for our authors and uncovering new books and ideas for Cambridge to publish and share with the world.