The animation industry is finally getting its own environmental certification, and it's about time. While live-action films have had programs like Green Film and the U.K.'s Albert and Ecoprod's Carbon Clap calculator to measure and certify their eco-friendliness, nothing similar existed for animation, despite its significant environmental impact. Personally, I think this is a crucial step towards a more sustainable film industry, and it's fascinating to see how this new certification program is being designed to address the unique challenges of animation production.
A Much-Needed Certification
The idea for ANiMPACT, a new European certification program, emerged from the frustration of animation producers who felt left out of the conversation on sustainable filmmaking. Luca Ferrario, who runs the Trentino Film Commission and helped build both Green Film and ANiMPACT, explains, 'Animation was kind of left behind from every talk, every discussion, every tool.' This is a significant oversight, given that animation is a major part of the film and TV business, and it comes with its own environmental costs.
What makes this particularly fascinating is that the environmental impact of animation is harder to measure than that of live-action films. A single animation project is often split across many different studios, countries, and outside vendors, making it more complicated to manage. Additionally, an animation feature takes much longer to complete, usually many years, which makes it harder to measure the total environmental impact.
The Focus on Electricity
One of the key areas of focus for ANiMPACT is electricity. Ferrario notes that electricity alone accounts for roughly half of a typical production's environmental impact, with the rest coming from things like how long computer equipment lasts before it's replaced, digital data storage, and travel between studios in different countries for international co-productions. This focus on electricity also extends to artificial intelligence, which is now being introduced throughout animation production, not just for generating images but for rendering, workflow automation, and other behind-the-scenes tasks that consume significant computing power.
The Certification System
The certification system itself is built around seven broad areas: how a company is run and its social responsibility practices; its office buildings and energy use; its digital workflow and data storage; travel; food; merchandise; and how it communicates about sustainability. Studios can be assessed both as individual projects and as companies, and each standard is weighted by how much environmental impact it actually has, with some counting as required and others as optional extra credit.
In my opinion, this is a smart and practical approach to certification, as it allows for a more nuanced understanding of a studio's environmental impact. The fact that the standards are weighted by impact means that studios can focus on the areas that have the biggest impact, and it also encourages them to think creatively about how they can reduce their environmental footprint.
The Business Case
For studios and producers, the main reason to bother with certification, aside from saving the planet, is money. A growing number of public film funds, at the regional, national, and European level, now offer financial incentives for productions that can prove they're environmentally responsible, and some are starting to make it a requirement rather than a bonus. This shift has already changed how live-action productions are budgeted and planned, and organizers expect the same to happen in animation.
What many people don't realize is that a real certification, unlike a company simply claiming to be sustainable, requires an outside auditor to check the work. This is very important for public funding, as it ensures that the claims being made are accurate and can be verified. In my view, this is a crucial aspect of any certification program, as it builds trust and ensures that the system is effective.
A Broader Impact
The project's backers are also pitching it as a fix for how messy environmental certification got in live-action film, where different countries built their own separate systems that don't always line up with each other. By designing a shared European standard from the start, ANiMPACT aims to create a more unified and effective system that can be adopted across the continent.
One thing that immediately stands out is that ANiMPACT has been endorsed by a broad range of industry groups, including Animation Europe, Cartoon Italia, CEE Animation, Anim'France, and Cartoon. This broad support suggests that the program has the potential to have a significant impact on the industry, and it's exciting to see how it might evolve in the coming years.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the launch of ANiMPACT is a significant development for the animation industry, and it's a step in the right direction towards a more sustainable future. While there's still much work to be done, I'm optimistic that this new certification program will help to drive positive change and encourage more studios to adopt environmentally responsible practices. From my perspective, this is a crucial step towards a greener and more responsible film industry, and I can't wait to see how it unfolds in the coming years.
