Carbon footprint

Our Friend in the West: Wendy Darke warns that the natural world is at risk

Wendy Darke

There was a moment when I realised that everything had changed. I’d sent a team to the Arctic to attempt to paddle the world’s largest fjord system two months earlier than would have been possible at the start of my career – because all the ice had melted.

Over 30 years, I’ve had a front-row seat as our rapidly changing climate pushes the natural world to the brink of collapse.

Working Lives: Meet the sustainability manager for the BBC

Plastic pollution at Manta Point, off the coast of Indonesia (Credit: Jukka Saarikorpi)

Richard Smith has been the BBC’s sustainability manager for 10 years. He was previously an on-screen reporter for BBC regional news programmes, including Midlands Today. As home affairs correspondent for BBC South East, he reported on drugs, asylum seekers and homelessness, and won an RTS award.

Based at MediaCity UK in Salford, Smith heads a team working to raise awareness of environmental issues within the television industry and reduce the carbon footprint of programme production.

Albert: making media in a sustainable future

This was the “win-win” message that Aaron Matthews – project manager at Albert, television’s sustainability initiative – brought to an RTS London meeting at the end of March.

Matthews explained that Albert certification – demonstrated by a logo displayed on a programme’s end credits – is proof that a “production has implemented sustainability best practice”.