Bela Bajaria Chief Content Officer at Netflix | Official website
Since 2021, Netflix has committed to two near-term climate targets aimed at halving its carbon emissions by 2030 and starting in 2022, matching remaining emissions by investing in natural climate solutions. Three years into this initiative, the company reports it is on track to meet both goals.
To achieve these targets, Netflix focuses on its primary sources of emissions—mainly operations and value chain—and addresses them through a framework termed "OED": optimizing energy use, electrifying it, and decarbonizing what remains.
Last year, Netflix reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by half compared to 2022. Due to reduced production work in 2023, most emissions stemmed from corporate operations, followed by film and series productions, with a small remainder from streaming activities.
Netflix has undertaken several measures to reduce emissions across its offices and studios. The company collaborates with utilities and landlords to identify energy efficiency improvements and continues to match global operations with 100% renewable electricity while adopting renewable fuels. In 2023, Netflix initiated a major expansion project for its studio campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This project includes sustainable investments such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, on-site solar and battery storage systems, and EV charging infrastructure with fast chargers.
Fuel consumption remains the largest source of emissions in Netflix's productions. The company is actively working to reduce this by replacing diesel generators with clean mobile power solutions and fossil fuel vehicles with electric or low-emission alternatives. In 2023, all directly managed productions incorporated some form of clean mobile power solutions and electric or hybrid vehicles. Productions like Bridgerton embraced EVs during its most recent Season 3 production.
Despite progress, the industry faces challenges in scaling these solutions due to supply availability within the shared ecosystem of production crew and suppliers. To accelerate this transition, Netflix co-founded the Clean Mobile Power Initiative last year to scale the supply of clean alternatives that will help the industry move away from diesel reliance.
Netflix also integrates sustainability themes into its content. Last year saw titles like Unstable (comedy), You Are What You Eat (documentary), Life on Our Planet (documentary), and Leave the World Behind (drama) featuring sustainability storylines. These are showcased along with over 200 others in Netflix's Sustainability Stories collection.
In three years, Netflix has made significant progress towards its commitments. The company plans to continue sharing updates on its efforts through its latest ESG report.
