In a world where the climate crisis continues to worsen, can the actions of individual companies make a meaningful difference? The Guardian believes they can and must. Five years ago, the British news organization made a bold pledge to address the climate emergency through its journalism and its own operations. Today, it provides a progress report that is equal parts encouraging and sobering.
Cutting Emissions: Progress and Challenges
Since making its first environment pledge in 2019, the Guardian has worked diligently to measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The latest sustainability report shows that emissions have fallen by an impressive 43% since 2020, putting the company well on track to achieve its goal of a 67% cut by 2030.
Much of this progress has come from the print side of the business. By carefully selecting paper suppliers, cutting waste, and pushing suppliers to use more renewable energy, the Guardian has slashed print emissions by nearly 50%. Interestingly, it found that encouraging more readers to subscribe to the newspapers actually helps trim emissions, since it allows for more precise printing quantities.
“We’re happy with our progress, but it comes against a worsening global picture,” said Julie Richards, the Guardian’s director of sustainability. “In 2015, governments worldwide committed to the Paris Agreement, in order to keep global heating within 1.5C of pre-industrial levels. To achieve that, emissions would have to fall by around 50% by 2030. Instead, emissions are at an all-time high and still rising.”
Daunting Global Context
Indeed, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, and the recent reelection of climate change skeptic Donald Trump in the United States is expected to drive up emissions and hinder environmental action. Even before the US election, many large companies were already backpedaling on their sustainability commitments as the complexities of greening supply chains became apparent.
Big tech, which had set some of the most aggressive emissions reduction targets, is now reporting surging carbon footprints as investments pour into power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers. Against this discouraging backdrop, do the efforts of relatively small emitters like the Guardian still matter?
Small Actions, Big Ripples
“I believe it does,” Richards maintains. Through its own experience, the Guardian has seen firsthand how setting targets and expectations with suppliers can accelerate change. Moves like the Guardian’s refusal to accept advertising from fossil fuel companies send important market signals.
“Just as our journalism provides people with facts that equip them to challenge the status quo, we hope that sharing our progress as a business can inform and support others to do the same, at a time when the need for action has never been more urgent,” said Richards.
As the climate crisis intensifies, the Guardian’s journey illustrates both the potential and the limitations of voluntary corporate action. While no substitute for robust government policies, business leadership and transparency remain vital tools for bending the emissions curve downward. The road ahead is steep, but the Guardian’s progress offers a glimmer of hope that committed organizations can help show the way.
