Sustainability in the Scottish screen industry
Culture for Climate Scotland will be working on sustainability in the screen industry in 2026-27, following a successful pilot year in 2025-26 that saw us publish the Sustainable Screen website, develop resources and work with the Scottish supply chain. This next year, we’ll be focusing on training for crew, wider reach production support and some projects that will help us lower the biggest carbon emission culprits on productions; energy, travel & transport and food.
We have confirmed the appointment of Sara Hamilton as Screen Sustainability Manager. Sara has been working with us for the last year in a freelance capacity to develop a strategy to maximise the environmental sustainability of the screen production industry in Scotland and we are very pleased that she has joined the Culture for Climate Scotland team. Sara is an experienced sustainability manager in the industry, bringing detailed, on-the-ground knowledge of how to support producers, heads of department, crew and others in reducing the climate impacts of productions.
Sustainability in the screen industry
The aim of this work is to support the Scottish screen production industry to help it thrive while also increasing its sustainability. It is funded by Screen Scotland, and we continue to work with the project partners Glasgow City Council, BECTU Vision, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and South of Scotland Enterprise. The work aligns with similar work going on in the rest of the UK and abroad, including that of the BAFTA Albert consortium and the BFI.
Sustainable Screen website
We have developed a dedicated website, Sustainable Screen, providing clear guidance about how to reduce the environmental impacts of every part of screen production. Users can identify their department and role to receive targeted advice and resources, from ‘easy wins’ that they can implement tomorrow, to ‘game changers’ that will take longer and really shift the dial. The website has been tested by production crew from the industry.
Collaboration and training
Over the past year, Sara and colleagues at Culture for Climate Scotland have met virtually with people from all over the UK, with some of these conversations leading to collaborations. The team has also been working on training to ensure there is a workforce up to speed on sustainability. This includes a first-of-its-kind power workshop with BAFTA Albert, Creative Zero and BECTU Vision that attracted over 30 local crew and suppliers who are keen to be part of the sustainable working transition. The team has also been working on training to ensure there is a workforce up to speed on sustainability, which included a two-day sustainability coordinator training course with BECTU Vision for six Scottish crew members who are now ready to support productions with their decarbonisation.
Supply chain
The supply chain is another important area of work, with the main sources of emissions in the industry being transport and travel, portable power, food waste and – to a lesser extent – use and disposal of materials. Each of these fields involves suppliers, both upstream and downstream of the shoot. Sara and our Senior Green Arts and Screen Officer, Romane Boyer, are working with suppliers to find greener options and strengthen the sustainable supply chain in Scotland. At present, many productions bring supplies and people from London or elsewhere, increasing costs and carbon emissions.
Case study
Sara has presented to various groups a powerful case study of her work on Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, which enabled the production to reduce carbon emissions by significant amounts across a variety of production areas including travel, energy and catering. For example, barring domestic flights saved 48.1 tonnes CO2e and using renewable energy saved 32.9 tonnes CO2e.
