Sky is a leading European media and entertainment company and is part of Comcast Corporation. Sky services its 23 million customers across six countries through apps, entertainment, sports, news and arts. With more than 30,000 employees, Sky understands that a business of its size, scale and reach has a responsibility to take bold climate action, and it has been driving positive change for people and planet for over a decade.
In February 2020, Sky started a new phase of its climate journey by committing to become net zero by 2030.
The target encompasses its entire value chain, including the emissions from 11,000 suppliers, its direct business operations, and those from the use of Sky products in the homes of millions of customers.
When it comes to the abatement of its emissions, Sky follows a science-informed approach. The company has publicly reported its carbon footprint across scopes 1, 2 and 3 for several years and uses this to drive progress against its target to halve its emissions across these three scopes by 2030 from a 2018 base year, which have been validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).
Sky’s emissions reductions will be delivered by measures including:
- switching its entire fleet of 5,000 vehicles to zero emissions vehicles,
- ensuring its new studios, Sky Studios Elstree, are the most sustainable production facilities in the world,
- continuing to achieve 100% renewable electricity, first reached in 2016 as part of its commitment to RE100, through on-site wind, combined heat and power, multiple green tariffs, and working with Climate Impact Partners to procure renewable electricity through Energy Attribute Certificates and
- reducing the emissions by customers using Sky services.
Sky has also produced the world’s first automatic standby mode for its set-top boxes.
To achieve net zero at 2030, Sky will offset any remaining carbon footprint from its entire value chain through nature-based carbon removal projects such as forest, mangrove and seagrass projects. It is supporting a reforestation project in Scotland that will plant around 200,000 native trees delivering biodiversity, landscape and community benefits.
To complement this future goal, as a step on its journey to net zero, Sky is achieving carbon neutrality.
Through a combination of energy efficiency measures, product innovation, renewable energy generation and procurement, and offsetting residual emissions through verified carbon reduction projects, it became the world’s first CarbonNeutral® media company from its direct emissions in 2006. The carbon reduction projects Sky has financed span renewable energy in India and China, forest conservation in Brazil and Indonesia, water infrastructure in Kenya, and reforestation in Mexico.
Sky has recently gone further to expand the scope of its carbon neutrality to its own productions and to build the world’s first TV to be certified as a CarbonNeutral® product – the “Sky Glass”, launched in 2021.
Another action that Sky continues to take on its path to net zero is to campaign for the environment. From Rainforest Rescue to Sky Ocean Rescue, and its channels – like Sky News, Sky Documentaries, and Sky Nature.
- Sky informs audiences, explains how they can start taking action through #GoZero, and launched the world’s first daily prime time news show dedicated to climate change.
- Sky Ocean Rescue will continue to champion ocean health with WWF, and rally people to #BeAnOceanHero by pledging to help save our oceans.
- And Sky’s £25 million impact investment fund Sky Ocean Ventures will continue to support innovations stopping the flow of plastic into the sea.
In summary, Sky recognizes that net zero is the ultimate goal if we are to advance the transition to a low carbon economy, but it also understands that taking responsibility for today’s emissions and being carbon neutral is a crucial part of the journey there. By partnering with Climate Impact Partners, Sky has offset the emissions it is unable to avoid through more than 30 verified emissions reductions or removals projects around the world.
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