ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY CHARTER ENVIRONMENTALANDSUSTAINABILITYCHARTER

Aardman is one of the most successful independent animation companies in the world, with a rich 50 year history of entertaining audiences all over the globe with our many award winning productions. As a modern, progressive and employee owned studio we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and environmental impact as a business. 

Environmental awareness is central to the way we do business, from the stories that we tell, to the carbon and energy efficiencies of the productions we create, to emissions reductions and the elimination of single-use plastics in our studios, to using our voice and characters to influence our partners and audience to be more environmentally aware.

Aardman is committed to publicly communicating every 12 months our environmental goals and achievements. Aardman will have the studio carbon footprint independently audited every 12 months and will work continually to develop plans and policies that minimise the studio’s carbon emissions and ensure responsible and sustainable business practices.

Our Environmental Goals

2022-2023

• Communicate to wider studio our Environmental and Sustainability Charter, and short and long term goals.
  
  
• Communicate outcomes from our first Carbon Footprint Report through Eight Versa and carry out the second year of reporting for 2022.
  
  
• Review outcomes of 2022 Carbon Footprint Report against our baseline to develop our reduction strategy and priorities.
  
  
• Strategy Group responsibility to lead on business areas, define policies and procedures, and accountability for driving carbon emissions reduction.
  
  
• In the short term achieve Carbon Measured certification and by 2025 set out our long term Net Zero target and achieve a Net Zero Carbon Committed At this point we will have a greater understanding of our footprint, access to better data and will be able to develop a more detailed breakdown of our emissions hotspots.
  
  
• Offset our carbon emissions through Albert on our larger productions and gain carbon credit certification through Ecologi.
  
  
• Training and educational plan for all partners.

Business Practices

• As an award winning animation studio use our voice to positively influence change within the industry and through all our business partnerships.
  
  
• Define approach to international travel to minimise carbon footprint.
  
  
• Agree criteria framework of how we assess environmental credentials of business partners and how we do business with them.

Studio Operations

• Reduce our GHG emissions by monitoring sources, implementing solutions, including source elimination, and improving efficiency, in line with the Science-Based Targets Initiative.
  
  
• Minimise and manage waste, making reduce, re-use and recycle the standard operating procedure.
  
  
• Comply with all relevant environmental legislation as a minimum.
  
  
• Monitor and minimise gas consumption with the aim to procure 100% renewable.
  
  
• Ensure environmental, including climate change, criteria are taken into account as a standard requirement as part of the procurement of goods and services.
  
  
• Maintaining procedures already in place:

• All electricity procured from 100% low carbon sources
• Zero to landfill waste policy
• Bio-digestion/composting of all food waste
• ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme for all partners

2024

• All productions to be Albert Certified by 2024 (as a minimum).

2025

• Set our Net Zero target for the organisation based on 4 years reporting data.

Governance and Implementation

To fulfil our targets and commitments we will:

• Ensure that the charter and goals are supported at Executive Board level, and that it is clear to all partners in the business that environment and sustainability policy and planning is key to not just how we do business but also how we grow our business.
  
  
• Maintain an effective Environmental taskforce to oversee the review and setting of policy and strategy to achieve our goals, objectives, and targets across the whole studio.
  
  
• Continually review and understand the environmental impacts and risks arising from our activities, services, and products. Develop strategies to reduce these impacts whenever possible.
  
  
• Maintain effective data management for ongoing annual carbon footprint reporting.
  
  
• Embed sustainable purchasing practices across all aspects of the business.
  
  
• Embed sustainable production principles across all our content creation, from script through to final delivery.
  
  
• All productions to be certified through Albert, or Adgreen if more appropriate.
  
  
• Inform, engage and regularly communicate to all partners, supported by suitable training, to create a sustainable working environment for all.

This charter will be:

• Understood, implemented, and maintained at all levels in the organisation.
  
  
• Reviewed as necessary to consider changes in the organisation, legislation, and stakeholder views.

We are committed to transparently communicating our progress towards addressing our impact on the environment and targets as set out in this charter through our website and annual carbon footprint reports.