Sustainability Working Group

Resources (Under Development)

Current State

Interest in—and awareness of—the need for more sustainable practices is growing in the United States. Although other markets, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, are more advanced in their consideration of sustainability goals, the global nature of most businesses means that international trends are affecting US organizations as well.

Other companies and nonprofit organizations have started sustainability efforts. Some are well established, dating to the mid-2000s. At the same time, overall knowledge of the basic components of sustainability—the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), carbon footprints, and scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions, as examples—is limited in the US book industry. More can be done to build awareness, educate, and foster action around sustainability in the US market.

At the moment, the North American market is challenged to make sense of what is happening globally with respect to sustainability. There is too much data and not enough actionable information related to reporting requirements, deadlines, and expectations for progress against multiple sustainability targets. A US focus could help the industry better understand and address the increasingly complex regulatory environment in the EU and elsewhere. Tariffs and other regulatory shifts may muddy the water, making it harder to focus on sustainability as a topic.

For the purposes of this working group, we define the publishing supply chain as the efforts of all organizations working across the industry to create, sell, and manage books in the US market. This begins with raw materials used by publishers and manufacturers and continues through book creation (in any format), distribution, retailing, library sales, and returns.

For the purposes of this working group, we define a sustainable business as one that has a minimal negative impact—or potentially a positive effect—on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy. This is particularly challenging as we enter 2025.  BISG can serve the community by focusing on deliverables that make reporting as simple as possible. BISG can also work with the Green Book Alliance and other entities to understand and serve the needs of local and global communities. Getting to that end state requires time and agreed-upon measures of progress. Sustainability for the book business would involve meeting or exceeding commitments to environmental stewardship as outlined in the UN’s SDGs.

Objectives

• Identify and address opportunities to create more uniform (standard) approaches to collecting and reporting data related to sustainability efforts

• Coordinate with other US and international sustainability efforts, building relationships within the group and across organizations

• Share information about work done to define and establish goals around sustainability

• Link available resources, like the SDGs, to book publishing supply chain activities, advising US organizations on current and emerging requirements. Consider resources like the Publishers Compact as a way to engage companies and individuals.

• Propose industry goals around critical metrics, such as CO₂ equivalents

• Collect data that informs the industry about progress and opportunities relative to SDGs and other measures of sustainability

Stakeholder Impact/Benefits

• Providing a forum in which multiple segments can discuss sustainability, as well as inform the community and provide a foundation for coordinated change.

• Creating a shared understanding of the work done to date, how it applies to book publishing, and where progress has been made (and who is making it) allows the industry to focus on opportunities—as well as issues and threats—that it can address through education, measurement, and adoption of best practices.

• Sustainability standards can increase transparency in reporting when they are deployed across the supply chain. In reporting progress against agreed-upon goals, the measures gain value when they use similar, interoperable frameworks.

Deliverables (2025)

• Develop and implement a one-year plan that demonstrates how a carbon calculation model can be adopted within an organization

• Deliver a business case for carbon data collection

• Collaborate with the BISG Supply Chain Committee and the Green Book Alliance for in-person opportunities to educate the industry around sustainability issues and opportunities at industry events (London Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, BISG and BMI’s annual meetings, etc.)

Blockers

The current political climate is less favorable to sustainability efforts. As well, external challenges like tariffs may create headwinds that weaken interest in sustainability. While the largest impact in determining carbon footprint comes from paper, printing, and shipping, the sustainability working group reflects the experiences of companies from across the supply chain, including distributors and retailers. Representation in key areas needs to be maintained so that the committee can fully address relevant issues.