We want our publishing to have a positive impact on society – not a negative one on the planet.
Print publishing can have a significant environmental impact and we’re taking active steps to minimize this. We’re decarbonizing our business operations, building a sustainable and responsible supply chain, and participating in industry-wide sustainability initiatives.
Our Print Books are CarbonNeutral® Certified Publications
As part of our commitment to become a zero waste and net zero carbon business by 2030, we have taken accelerated steps to reduce our carbon emissions and waste within our print supply chain. Over the past few years, we’ve created a more efficient and sustainable print supply chain, reducing our carbon emissions by around 30%*. In 2020 we became a CarbonNeutral® certified business and in 2021 we advanced our sustainability commitments further and achieved CarbonNeutral® publication certification, in line with the industry leading CarbonNeutral Protocol standard, for all our print books and journals.
This means that the emissions from our printed products and supply chain that we cannot yet avoid are calculated and compensated for through the purchase of high-quality, certified carbon offsets that support verified carbon reduction or removal projects around the world. Measuring and accounting for our supply chain’s emissions provides us with valuable data to continue our work with printers and suppliers to take reductions further.
Our actions to reduce both waste and emissions from our supply chain include:
- Increasing the use of print-on-demand services to better match production with demand and reduce physical stock levels
- Expanding opportunities for customers and resellers to self-print to eliminate printing to stock and transportation
- Continuing to grow our digital offerings
- Donating unused book stock to BookAid and Amnesty International, avoiding waste and contributing to the wider sharing of knowledge
* Based on 2016 levels
Prioritising Responsible Sourcing
We rely on close relationships with our printers, wholesalers, and distribution partners to manufacture and deliver our books to customers around the globe. All business partners are required to adhere to the high ethical standards outlined in Informa’s Business Partner Code of Conduct. We believe that success is created through trusted partnerships and all suppliers are audited to ensure that we only work with businesses that share our values, are committed to creating a positive impact on the environment, maintain an inclusive and safe workplace, and demonstrate respect for core labour standards and human rights.
Our commitment to responsible sourcing also extends to the materials that we use in our printed products. 100% of the paper we manufacture our books from is certified and responsibly sourced with robust chain of custody schemes. This helps ensure that we contribute to sustainable forest management, helps prevent deforestation, supports the economic well-being of forestry workers, and protects the rights of indigenous peoples.
Advancing Sustainability Across the Industry
We are proud to be active participants and contribute to several initiatives and projects to help advance collective action across the publishing industry.
This includes:
- The Publishers Association Sustainability Taskforce. This group was formed in 2020 to accelerate sustainability actions across the publishing industry
- We are founding signatories of Publishing Declares, the Publishers Association’s Climate Action Pledge.
- SDG Publishers Compact, a United Nations initiative launched in 2020, in collaboration with the International Publishers Association. The Compact aims to accelerate progress to achieve the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
- The Book Chain Project, a collaborative project run by consultancy Carnstone, involving leading publishers, print suppliers, and paper manufacturers. It aims to increase awareness of environmental impacts in publishing and provides tools to help companies make informed buying decisions in print and production.
Find out more:
You can learn more about our wider company approach to sustainability on the Taylor & Francis website.
