On 13 February, the European Commission unveiled the MEDIA Carbon Calculator at the Creative Europe – MEDIA stand in the Martin Gropius Bau during this year’s European Film Market (EFM, 12-18 February), positioning it as a unified, free-of-charge tool to help audiovisual producers across the EU measure the carbon footprint of their live-action productions.

Introduced by Martin Dawson, head of unit – MEDIA at the European Education and Culture Executive Agency, alongside Florian Reimann (Yamdu) and Justin Janßen (KlimAktiv), the hour-long session framed the calculator as both a technical instrument and a political signal.

“We’re very happy because a few years ago, we organised a big event on greening the audiovisual industry at the European level. There was a lot of enthusiasm and a general consensus that we had to come together to do something – that we could each give our own contribution,” Dawson said. “But then, of course, we had to do the hard work. This is the fruit of our labour.”

Where Europe could “bring some added value”, he explained, was by introducing a common methodology. While some member states already operate national calculators – notably France and Germany, where producers must use them in order to access certain public funds – others do not. As a result, “not all producers had access to calculators, and no calculator was comparable [to another]”.

Financed by Creative Europe, the MEDIA Carbon Calculator is launching as a first prototype focused exclusively on live-action film and series production. It does not yet cover exhibitors, streamers, animation or gaming — “We hope that one day, it will,” Dawson noted. The Commission plans to progressively integrate it further into the MEDIA programme.

The web application allows producers to input production data — such as energy use, transport, accommodation, catering, materials and logistics — with emissions calculated automatically via embedded carbon factors. “It’s not magic; it’s all about data,” Dawson stressed.

Behind the interface lies a database translating production activities into CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e). While Dawson acknowledged that more sophisticated tools such as Albert exist, he underlined that these are often costly. “The MEDIA Carbon Calculator is free; it’s not replacing any existing calculators, and it’s not there to compete with others.”

Importantly, the tool is compatible with national systems. Producers in countries with mandatory calculators may use both. At present, there is no conditionality attached to Creative Europe funding requiring its use, although sustainability obligations already exist. The Commission signalled that, in the future, it will encourage broader adoption. “The sooner you start using [it] and the sooner you give us your feedback, the better.”

Project lead Reimann contextualised the initiative within the scale of the industry’s environmental impact. “I like good food and good movies. When it comes to food, what are the most elaborate dishes made of in terms of their ingredients? The same goes for movies, and that applies to calculating carbon emissions, too.”

Citing production data, he noted that a small US independent film averages around 391 metric tons of CO₂ emissions – with Europe generally coming close to that figure – while major tentpole studio productions such as Barbie or Oppenheimer [+leggi anche:
recensione
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scheda film] can reach approximately 3,370 metric tons. Larger-scale productions may even exceed 5,000 metric tons.

Referencing research from the Max Planck Institute, Reimann added: “With each Hollywood movie, a large football stadium [size of ice sheet] is gone forever.” With an estimated 250,000-350,000 new titles registered annually on IMDb, he argued that structural change is urgently required across “all media and entertainment industries”.

The calculator aligns with Greenhouse Gas Protocol standards and incorporates Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, including upstream activities such as transport, fuel, waste, business travel, purchased goods and services, employee commuting and energy consumption. It also responds to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), positioning itself as a “low-barrier entry tool” for compliance.

Janßen then detailed the primary emission drivers in film production: travel and accommodation, utilities and energy, departmental materials, catering, logistics and waste. The modelling relies on carbon factors supplied and aggregated by KlimAktiv, based on datasets from sources including the European Environment Agency, the UN, the FAO, the IPCC, the European Commission and the International Energy Agency.

“We only consider the activities important to film and media production,” Janßen explained, describing the tool as user-centric and industry-specific, while adhering to “the highest scientific standards for CO₂e factors”.

Where available, national datasets for all EU27 member states are integrated. Activities are divided into two subsets: conventional fossil-based options and sustainable alternatives, such as green electricity, biofuel, vegetarian or vegan catering, solid-wood materials and train travel.

The event concluded with a brief demonstration of how the calculator works, presenting it as a relatively easy and intuitive tool, followed by a Q&A session.

As the EU strengthens sustainability frameworks across cultural industries, the tool marks a significant step towards harmonising environmental accountability in European audiovisual production and signals that carbon measurement may soon become just as routine as budgeting.

The MEDIA Carbon Calculator is now live and can be accessed here.