Sustainability Strategy

Eurimages’ commitment to consider environmental issues in its activities was formalised in September 2020 with the adoption of Resolution CM/Res(2020)8 by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. This document states in its articles 1.1, 2.3 and 8.1 that: Environmental impact should, whenever possible, be considered and reduced both when taking measures and implementing programme activities and in the Fund’s functioning.

In the framework of this strategy, “sustainability” is understood to be a focus on the environmental impact of the Fund’s activities, its functioning and on action towards climate neutrality. Gender equality and diversity issues are dealt with by a dedicated Eurimages Study Group while other areas of activity listed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals go beyond the mandate of the Fund.

Eurimages acknowledges its accountability towards future generations regarding sustainable development, bearing in mind the undeniable environmental impact of international co-productions.

Eurimages also trusts that international cooperation is a key element to answer the challenges of climate change, hence engaging its responsibility as a platform to encourage the greening of the film industry in its member States.

Eurimages Board of Management established a Sustainability Study Group in March 2021 to develop a strategy and action plan to help the Fund meet these challenges while continuing to support quality projects of international reach.

Action Plan

At its meeting in November 2022, the Eurimages Board of Management decided to implement three measures in favour of sustainable co-productions:

1. As of January 2023, projects submitted under the co-production support programme will be assessed taking into account an additional selection criterion concerning "the existence of measures implemented to reduce the environmental impact of the co-production project". This criterion aims to consider efforts undertaken by the producers and the artistic and technical teams to carry out the project in a sustainable way.
In concrete terms this allows producers, on a voluntary basis, to indicate the relevant elements in their producer’s note of intent and attach any previously prepared documents, in particular documents designed to meet the requirements of other public funds (carbon calculation, certification, sustainability strategy, etc.).
This additional selection criterion is not an eligibility criterion: a project that has not yet put in place any green production measures may apply for support from Eurimages. Nevertheless, the external experts sitting in the project evaluation sessions will take this criterion into account when making a comparative assessment of the projects.
A list of useful tools to enable the production of sustainable films can be found on this page and offers a varied choice of methodologies for production teams. This list may be updated or expanded regularly.

2. The creation of three Eurimages Green Co-production Awards has been approved. The objective of these awards is to reward international co-productions that have managed to combine sustainable production and artistic quality. They will be open to feature-length fiction, animation and documentary films. Each prize will be endowed with €10,000.
A call for expressions of interest from film festivals, markets and events will be launched by the Fund at the beginning of 2023 with the aim of starting to award these prizes by 2024 at the latest.

NB: The implementation of the Eurimages Green Co-production Awards has been postponed to a later date.

3. Eurimages also intends to be active in the field of training in sustainable film production. The Fund will work on the development of an e-learning platform on sustainable film production which will focus on international co-production and related issues. Such a tool will be aimed at film professionals - producers, directors, technicians, etc. - in all the Fund's member States. By setting up a modular training course, the Fund will be able to respond to the different levels of requirements and expectations of professionals while trying to facilitate the exchange of good practices among them. However, this platform will not lead to the award of a diploma or qualification for green consultants.
A set of specifications will be drawn up shortly to enable the launch of a call for tenders to find the right partners for this project.

Strategic objectives

Three strategic objectives addressing three different target groups were identified by the Sustainability Study Group.

Background

Several international legal standards developed by the Council of Europe – notably the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, and the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats among others – have been successfully invoked to help make progress on environmental issues. With these, the Council of Europe has underlined the undeniable link between human rights and a sustainable environment.

Eurimages' missions are built into the broader objectives of the Council of Europe, making it even more necessary to take the challenges of sustainable development into account. Many public and private organisations have already been active in the field and concrete measures are already in place. Eurimages would like to draw from these experiences. The European Audiovisual Observatory‘s conference “Boosting sustainable film through international collaboration” which took place in June 2021 laid the foundations for the Fund’s reflection and coincided with the launch of the Eurimages Sustainability Study Group. Also, Eurimages intends to place its work on a strategy and an action plan within the framework of the Structured Dialogue “Towards a climate-neutral audiovisual sector” led by the European Commission - DG CONNECT.

Objective #1 - Encourage a sustainable film industry

Eurimages will encourage the transition to a sustainable film industry with a particular focus on international co-production.

In order to implement this objective, Eurimages will specify when a film project is considered sustainable i.e., what the Fund wants to measure, and which target is set. The Sustainability Study group will oversee for the Fund the development of appropriate criteria for sustainable co-productions.

Eurimages will at first focus on measures to be implemented within the framework of its co-production support programme. In doing so, the Fund will take into account the absence of existing and widely accepted standards at this stage and the limited resources to manage green issues at both the producers’ and Eurimages’ level.

In a second stage, such sustainability measures will be extended and adapted to the other programmes of the Fund.

The Sustainability Study Group and the Eurimages Secretariat will ensure coordination with other partners in the film industry to avoid duplication of existing initiatives. Eurimages will also ensure it bases its decisions on the evaluation of existing measures.

Eurimages' action will be included in the framework of the structured dialogue launched by the European Union aiming more specifically at establishing a common label and common measurement (calculator) systems in its member States.

Eurimages will take into consideration geographical specificities of its member States when adopting sustainability measures.

In implementing these measures, Eurimages shall do its utmost:

to maintain a high standard of quality in the projects supported
to keep administrative processes at an acceptable level for all.

Objective #2 - Ensure a sustainable functioning of the Fund

Eurimages will ensure that in terms of respect for the environment the functioning of the Fund is in line with widely accepted modern administrative standards and good practices*.

In doing so, it will ensure coherence in the functioning of the Fund with its own policy by swift implementation of sustainability measures.

However, Objective #2 will require coordination with the Council of Europe’s central administration and conformity to its rules.

The Sustainability Study Group and the Eurimages Secretariat will assess the green impact of the Fund’s functioning and will study means of improvement (for instance for travel, printing and digital communication?).

Build on some of the consequences of Covid-19 crisis: homeworking / virtual meetings / online film events.

However, the Fund acknowledges the importance of maintaining a direct “non-virtual” contact with film professionals to carry out its missions in physical events.

* e.g., JRC Report “Best Environment Management Practice for the Public Administration Sector”

Objective #3 - Foster cooperation between its member States and implementation or improvement of sustainability measures

Eurimages will encourage the national authorities of the Fund’s member States to act in favour of a sustainable film industry and to share their experience, best practices, and knowledge with each other. Awareness raising is one of the traditional missions of the Council of Europe and was (and still is), for instance, a key activity within the Eurimages Gender Equality Policy.

Eurimages will participate in forums to share experience, best practices, and knowledge, or in activities intended to set common standards.

Eurimages will respond on a case-by-case basis to member States’ requests whenever the Fund’s involvement is relevant (awareness raising, support to training events…) in cooperation with the appropriate partners or stakeholders. The Fund will act in a reactive, not proactive fashion.

Depending on the desire of the member States, soft law (for instance a Council of Europe Recommendation) could set a common framework for a sustainable film industry.