While effective for reporting emissions, a spend-based methodology has limitations including the inability to identify emissions hotspots. With radical decarbonisation as our goal, we realised early in our journey that this approach would be limited. To move forward with a process-based methodology, we needed to map the media ecosystem. Like many complex supply chains this had not been done before.

That’s why, since 2019, we have been working with the University of Bristol and some of the world’s most innovative media companies, including BBC, Sky, Netflix and ITV, to map the digital media ecosystem and create a web-based tool to calculate the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with digital media content – from post-production to delivery, and on to the end user. This initiative is called ‘DIMPACT’.

With more accurate data, we will be able to assess the emissions of clients’ digital media strategies and help them choose lower-carbon alternatives. This will provide transparent data for reporting and decision making, supporting others on their journey to Net Zero and best in class climate disclosure.

“It is rare to see an initiative that combines cutting-edge academic research with real-world impacts to such a degree as DIMPACT. We have seen our research and modelling skills translated into meaningful results for a whole industry. We expect this technology to go far, as we have only just started. Internationalisation, forecasting, validation and increasing the scope are the focus areas that will drive the next phase of development,”

Dr Daniel Schien from Bristol’s Department of Computer Science.  

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