Production houses and line producers
The platform’s sustainability team wants actuals by episode. I have 400 fuel slips and a travel agent’s Excel.
Carbon footprint for film, TV and live event production
Your shoot has a carbon number. Get it before the streamer asks.
The platform wants your production footprint. Your data sits in fuel slips, travel bookings and hotel folios.
What do you run?
Production footprint measured for
DAILY PRODUCTION REPORTUntitled war drama, 10 × 45 min
Ref.
DPR-OUT-023
DPR-OUT-023
- Shoot day
- 23 of 62, outstation
- Unit
- 180 crew on call
- DG sets
- 3 × 125 kVA, 410 l diesel
- Flights
- 14 sectors, 16,100 pkm
- Hotel
- 160 room nights
- Day total
- 12.70 t
- Generators
- 1.09 t
- Travel and stay
- 11.61 t
Outstation day
Example. Illustrative productions and figures.
The short answer
How do you calculate the carbon footprint of a film or TV shoot?
Multiply each activity by a published emission factor: generator diesel in litres, flight kilometres, hotel room nights and studio kWh. Add them up by shoot day, then by episode. On an Indian outstation shoot, hotels and flights usually outweigh the generators.
Last verified 3 October 2026. Sources at the end.
Sound familiar?
Broadcasters and streaming platforms
BRSR Core needs this assured. Seven of my producers sent nothing, and I can’t defend a guess.
Concerts, festivals and live IPs
The title sponsor wants a neutrality claim on the poster. I need a number I can stand behind.
Paraphrased from our conversations with producers, platforms and event teams.
Schedule the shoot.
Move days between studio, local and outstation. Watch what makes a day heavy.
One hour of US scripted drama: 77 tonnes of CO₂e an episode.
Fuel is 58% of it.
Sustainable Production Alliance, 266 series and 161 films analysed (2016 to 2019). In India, the mix differs: long outstation schedules make travel and hotel stays the bigger line.
Free production carbon calculator
Your production, by the day.
Set episodes, shoot days, generators, flights and hotel nights. See tonnes per episode and per shoot day.
0
How this is worked out
- Diesel: 2.66 kg CO2e per litre (UK government 2026 conversion factors).
- Flights: 0.13552 kg CO2e per passenger-km, the UK domestic average without radiative forcing, used as a proxy for Indian domestic flights.
- Hotels: 58.9 kg CO2e per room night in India (UK government 2026).
- Studio power: 1,200 kWh a studio day × 0.675 t CO2 per MWh (CEA v22).
- Activity defaults are illustrative. Your cost report, travel and hotel exports give the real number.
- Audience travel left out. We report it separately when you want it.
Already on Climes
Operation Safed Sagar, measured.
Streaming series
With Life First Health, Climes measured the production footprint of Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar: 1,237 t CO2e, mostly cast and crew travel. 1,106 t of Verra-registered credits were retired, split across seven projects by a crew vote.
What it showed
89% was Scope 3.
Travel and stays, not the lights. That’s the line to plan around on your next schedule.
Why now
Who’s asking, and by when.
69%
Production leads
Making films, series and games was 69% of Netflix’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.
FY 2026-27
Assurance reaches 1,000
BRSR Core assessment or assurance extends to the top 1,000 listed companies, media included.
3,003
Shows report already
Productions filed 3,003 albert footprints in 2023. Drama averaged 48.7 t an hour.
27 Sep 2026
Offset claims tighten
EU rules now bar offset-based “neutral” product claims, and global studios write one policy for all markets.
Answer the platform’s form by episode.
A production sustainability form from a platform. Same question, two answers.
Production_Sustainability_Form.xlsxSheet: Carbon · section C
Section C Give the production’s estimated and actual carbon footprint in t CO2e, split by fuel, travel, accommodation and utilities, with methodology, emission factors and supporting evidence. Report per shoot day and per episode.
Wording modelled on platform production sustainability forms.
- Win the next commission. Send the number with the wrap report.
- Cut the big line. Local crew and hybrid generators, priced in tonnes.
Straight answer: we measure and document. Where a platform wants an outside check, that comes from albert or an assurance provider. Carbon-neutral claims are for Indian and other non-EU audiences, and we only make them on measured numbers.
How it works
From the cost report to the platform’s form.
Carbon-OS reads your cost report, travel and hotel exports. One method for every title and every event.
Connect
Cost report, travel and hotel exports, fuel slips.
Map
Every line to an emission factor.
Review
By day, episode and department.
Export
The platform form, BRSR, or an event claim.
Method and boundary
- Standard
- GHG Protocol: Scope 1 (DG sets, owned vehicles), Scope 2 (studio power), Scope 3 (flights, hotels, hired transport, commissioned titles).
- Boundary
- Prep to wrap, all units and locations. Post and VFX power optional. Audience travel separate.
- Formats
- Lines structured to the categories albert and PEAR track: fuel, utilities, travel, housing.
- BRSR Core
- Scope 1 and 2 with intensity, Scope 3 for leadership indicators, evidence for assurance.
- Events
- Boundary set with ISO 20121 principles. Artist, crew and optional audience travel.
- Claims
- For Indian and non-EU clients: measured, reduced, then retired registry credits with serial numbers.
- Factors
- More than a million emission factors, including UK government and CEA.
Where are you today?
Three questions. Your first steps.
See where we'd start with you.
Who’s asking for your number?
Where does your data live today?
What do you need first?
Questions producers ask.
How do you calculate a film production’s carbon footprint?
Multiply each activity, such as diesel litres, flight kilometres, hotel nights and kWh, by a published emission factor. Then add them up by day and episode.
What is the average carbon footprint of a TV episode?
In the US, a one-hour scripted drama averages 77 t CO2e an episode, and fuel is 58% of it. UK drama averaged 48.7 t an hour in 2023.
What’s the biggest carbon source on an Indian shoot?
On outstation shoots, usually hotels and flights. In our default case, hotels are 61% and diesel 22%. Local night shoots shift it toward generators.
Do streamers track production emissions?
Global streamers manage production as a core source. Netflix reports making films, series and games at 69% of its Scope 1 and 2, and targets a 46% cut by 2030.
What is albert?
BAFTA’s carbon calculator and sustainability scheme for screen production. Productions filed 3,003 footprints in 2023.
What is PEAR?
The Production Environmental Accounting Report from the Green Production Guide. It tracks utilities, fuel, housing and air travel for a production.
Do listed media companies need BRSR Core assurance?
Yes, if they’re in SEBI’s glide path: the top 500 listed for FY 2025-26 and the top 1,000 for FY 2026-27.
Can my event be carbon neutral?
For Indian and other non-EU audiences, yes: measure, reduce, then retire verified credits and publish their serial numbers.
Has Climes done this for a streaming series?
Yes. With Life First Health, Climes measured Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar at 1,237 t CO2e, and 1,106 t of Verra credits were retired.
Is audience travel included in an event footprint?
Only if you choose. It’s often the biggest source, so we report it separately from the core boundary.
Does Climes sign off productions as green?
No. We measure and document. An outside check, where needed, comes from albert or an assurance provider.
Which grid factor do you use for studio power in India?
CEA’s CO2 Baseline Database v22: 0.675 t CO2 per MWh for 2025-26.
Glossary
Eight terms, in plain words.
- Shoot day
- One scheduled day of filming. Most footprints are tracked by it.
- DG set
- A diesel generator powering lights, vanities and base camp on location.
- Room night
- One hotel room for one night. India’s factor is 58.9 kg CO2e.
- Scope 3
- Emissions you cause but don’t own, like crew flights and hired hotels.
- albert
- BAFTA’s carbon calculator and sustainability scheme for UK screen production.
- PEAR
- The US Production Environmental Accounting Report, a production carbon tracker.
- BRSR Core
- SEBI’s assured set of sustainability metrics for listed companies.
- Retired credit
- A carbon credit cancelled on a registry, so nobody can use it again.
Bring one cost report. We’ll work out the shoot.
Twenty minutes. Your schedule, your crew, your locations. You leave with tonnes per episode.
Book the 20-minute callor write to carbon-os@climes.io
Sources
- Netflix 2024 ESG Report: production 69% of Scope 1 and 2; 46% target
- Netflix, Operation Safed Sagar: the series
- Sustainable Production Alliance, Carbon Emissions Report: 77 t an episode, fuel 58%
- SPA Toolkit overview: what PEAR tracks
- BAFTA albert, 2023 Annual Review: 3,003 footprints, drama 48.7 t an hour
- SEBI circular, 28 March 2025: BRSR Core glide path
- EU Directive 2024/825: applies from 27 September 2026
- ISO 20121:2024: event sustainability management
- UK government GHG conversion factors 2026: diesel, flights, hotels
- CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 22: grid 0.675
Facts on this page last verified 3 October 2026. Interactive figures are illustrative unless a source is named.