Ecological Sustainability

One of the objectives of APFI’s sustainability strategy has been to examine and develop the ecology of the domestic film and TV industry, and to reduce its negative environmental impact.  

In 2021–2024, the work on environmental sustainability has been co-funded by key stakeholders of the audiovisual industry: 

Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle
Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK
Finnish Film Foundation
The Finnish Television Academy
Business Finland
City of Helsinki
City of Forssa
Finnish Lapland Film Commission
North Finland Film Commission
West Finland Film Commission
East Finland Film Commission
Southeast Finland Film Commission
Film Tampere
Åland Film Commission
Trade Union for Theatre and Media Finland Teme
Avate Audiovisual Authors and Performers in Finland 

In 2024, APFI received the Ministry of Education and Culture’s grant on structural support for the renewal of the cultural and creative sectors, to promote the ecological development of the audiovisual industry. The new initiative will include, among other things, examining the ecological aspects of domestic film and TV content and promoting actions in the field of ecology through digitalization and internationalization. The initiative will run until 31 August 2025.

APFI is working with two partners promoting the ecological development of productions and production companies. The partnerships will continue until at least 31 December 2025.

APFI has collaborated with the UK-based, non-profit organisation albert since 2021. The albert toolkit, which is free of charge for productions, are a carbon footprint calculator and certificates. In 2021 APFI will continue the albert trainings only in Finnish. The trainings in English can be found here.

• more information: albert@apfi.fi & albert@bafta.org
• sign up for albert’s newsletter here (bottom of the page)
• online session about tools for productions 4.12.2024: check the recording of the albert presentation (in English, 22min)

In 2025, cooperation will also be established with the Norwegian Green Producers Club. The Green Producers Tool is a carbon footprint calculator that can be used by both productions and production companies. For Finnish companies in the film and TV industry, the tools will be available at -50% until the end of 2025. The price list can be found here.

• more information: brita@greenproducers.club & mads@greenproducers.club
• sign up for GPC’s newsletter here
• online session about tools for productions 4.12.2024: check the recording of the GPC presentation (in English, 17min)

Two of the statistics are compiled on productions that have used the albert toolkit. The reports examine the situation of different aspects of both fictional and non-fictional productions, for example, regarding carbon emissions and energy consumption. The 2022 report, published in spring 2023, was the first publication on the subject in Finland. The 2023 report published in autumn 2024 was the first to compare different production methods and genres. The statistics show that Finnish production emitted an average of 6.5 tCO₂e/h, the majority of which is generated by logistics.

”Ecology in Finnish Film and TV – 2024 Overview” is a collection of actions on environmental sustainability on all levels of the Finnish film and TV industry in 2024. The report shows the county’s brief history on the topic for the first time, and shares information how the industry’s key stakeholders are enabling ecology in their work. The publication highlights that numerous practical efforts are already taking place, but they are still insufficient for calculating the industry’s overall emissions. Unless they are already doing so, many commissioners and funders are ready to set ecological criteria as a requirement for funding Finnish productions.

For more information and contact: