Today, all major European and American events apply strategies in order to reduce their CO2 emissions, generate less waste and make more efficient use of energy. They have even started auditing and offsetting their carbon emissions.
The organizers of these events started with small gestures, such as the reduction of single-use plastics or the use of recyclable materials, but today they aim for increasingly ambitious and measurable objectives. The Berlin Festival, for example, which was the first to measure its carbon footprint, has already achieved the goal of using only renewable energy and in 2023 even opted to slim down the programming and thus contribute to the sustainability of the event.
Every year, these competitions reinvent themselves to further reduce their impact on the environment, introducing alternative measures that range from the creation of specific sections to promote environmental values (Sundance) to voluntary certificates to measure the carbon footprint generated by productions. exhibited or charging a fee at the entrances to compensate for their emissions (Cannes).
The path towards a carbon neutral festival
At the San Sebastián Festival, which is currently celebrating its 71st edition, its organizers have decided to be more ambitious and have committed to turning it into a “carbon neutral event” in five years. Its decarbonization strategy focuses mainly on transportation, which in 2022 generated 40% of the event’s emissions. This year, the organization will have the support of Repsol, which “it will allow us to make a qualitative leap in reducing the festival’s emissions”explains Amaia Serrulla, head of sustainability for the festival.
“Donostia is the most important film event in Spain and one of the most important internationally. The eyes of the industry are on the city and the Festival during these days and if it is possible to use this exhibition for a positive purpose, in some way, the Festival has the responsibility to do so. Beyond reducing your particular footprint, something that is also important, the main value is raising awareness”he points out.
Renewable fuels and electric cars
Among the big names that this year will attend the San Sebastian event, international stars such as Juliette Binoche and Mads Mikkelsen and Spanish directors such as Fernando Trueba, Isabel Coixet and Juan Antonio Bayona stand out. With the intention of making the Festival’s mobility more sustainable, Repsol offers different energy solutions such as 100% renewable fuelswhich have zero net emissions and have been manufactured from various organic waste such as used cooking oil.
Regarding electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the company has made all of its products available to the festival. public charging network in the city of San Sebastián, with seven points installed and operational, and two additional portable points that will be located on a central avenue in the capital of San Sebastián.
“One of our main objectives is to ensure that the transport we use at the Festival is as sustainable as possible. This implies increasing the fleet of electric cars or opting for the train instead of the plane for all internal travel and, if using the plane, doing so with companies that have sustainability policies.explains Serrulla.
Aside from mobility, Repsol will also provide 100% renewable fuel to power the two generator sets that will be responsible for lighting the Festival’s Closing Gala party, which will be held next Saturday, September 30. In addition, the company has installed a solar cube in Plaza Okendo, which will supply renewable electricity to the advertising supports and screens that are installed every year in this central square, where the Victoria Eugenia Theater and the María Cristina Hotel are located, and which will also serve as a charging point for mobile phones.
The decarbonization strategy undertaken by the festival in recent years is beginning to bear results. According to the measurement carried out by the independent consultancy CREAST, the reduction of single-use materials, the early shutdown of the emblematic Kursaal, the use of LED lighting technology or the almost complete elimination of paper printing have achieved a considerable reduction in its carbon footprint. Regarding the waste generated, more than 85 percent is recycled or reused with containment measures that include everything from the use of biodegradable accreditations to the manufacture with recycled material of the Kursaal and Victoria Eugenia red carpets, which are converted into garments. of clothing at the end of each edition.
The example of San Sebastián and other major festivals shows how a large part of the industry is already taking steps in the right direction, demonstrating that glamor and sustainability make for a good cast, unless a producer decides to promote a blockbuster action with the acrobatics of several fighters in the Bay of Cannes.