02/03/2025
‘Sustainability is a spectrum of choices’ was one of the insights from our recent webinar with Elsevier’s sustainability champion Rachel Martin.
Rachel leads Elsevier’s overall Climate Action Program, alongside their sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) efforts, while also being active in sustainability and social responsibility committees internationally. Given this background, she shared a wealth of insights from Elsevier and beyond, such as international initiatives including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Publishers Compact and Book Club, and highlighted what these initiatives are achieving.
Rachel provided an overview of global efforts to improve environmental sustainability in the publishing industry, including the award-winning Publishing 2030 Accelerator project, and delved into the latest research on calculating carbon emissions – particularly for digital products.
Looking at what publishers here in Australia can do, Rachel highlighted a series of interviews with publishing CFOs on the relationship between sustainability and business success. In saying that ‘sustainability is a spectrum of choices’, she suggested that publishers should consider which measures are right for their organisations at the current time – whether it’s moving to 100% FSC paper, downsizing their office, or switching to suppliers with better environmental credentials.
Rachel's presentation further explored digital emissions, including data centres and user devices, and the influence of AI – stressing the need for transparent data and industry-wide standards. The webinar concluded with Rachel in conversation with Sustainability Working Group chair Kathy Bail around measuring progress locally, government support for green energy, the upcoming EU Deforestation Act, and some of the particular challenges for Australian publishers.
The webinar recording is available to view by members here.
For more practical advice on how to get involved, see the APA’s five sustainability recommendations, as well as recent case studies from Simon & Schuster, Allen & Unwin and Thames & Hudson within the Greener Publishing Guide.