Sustainability in UK media businesses: a mixed bag

In a world where business sustainability directly impacts reputation and success, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles are becoming increasingly crucial for media companies.

Implementing ESG practices allows media firms to demonstrate their commitment to positive environmental impacts, ethical operations, and transparent governance. This not only fosters trust among audiences and stakeholders, but also aligns with the growing demand for responsible investment. For media companies, ESG is a strategy to ensure long-term viability in a market that values social consciousness and environmental stewardship as much as financial performance.

Why then, are we seeing a slight downward trend in terms of ESG policy progress?

Are UK media businesses struggling to deliver on ESG promises?

In our 2024 survey of media industry professionals, we sought to understand:

• how they feel the sector and their organisation are faring in relation to sustainability, and;
• why they feel sustainability is important to their business.

Of the 301 respondents, 78% believe that the media industry is making good or excellent progress in effectively developing and implementing ESG policies. While this may seem encouraging, it is a 10% decrease from last year’s 88% of 152 media respondents from our 2024 Media and Tech Industry Outlook.

This decrease may be due to a trend we are seeing in corporate sustainability. In recent years, many businesses made bold sustainability pledges and set ambitious targets, resulting in the feeling of great momentum. However, as businesses now shift their focus toward delivery and implementation, many are realising that achieving their pledges and targets will require more of a business transformation than they initially thought. In many cases, the rate of change required does not yet match actual change. This could be contributing to survey respondents feeling that the sector is making little (if any) progress.

Survey respondents also reported a decrease in optimism about the future of their businesses: 80% of media respondents in 2023 felt somewhat or very optimistic about the next 12 months, compared to only 59% of respondents in 2024. When future revenue and funding appear difficult to secure, sustainability is often scaled back, which could be another contributing factor to the lack of confidence in sustainability progress in the sector.

Sustainability seen as a real value driver

A very encouraging survey finding is that respondents are making clear links between sustainability and value creation, with 46% of respondents stating the primary driver behind their business engaging with sustainability was due to one of three types of value created for their business: supporting business growth, resilience and brand value (16%), helping to access finance and investment (15%), and helping to retain and recruit people (15%). 

The results indicate that the industry is moving beyond the mindset of engaging with sustainability solely to positively impact people and the planet, toward engaging with it because it has real business benefits. This could bring renewed motivation for sustainability initiatives, to reach the ambitious goals. 

Material sustainability topics vary by media sub-sector 

Unsurprisingly, the sustainability topics that industry professionals ranked most important to their business depended on the sub-sector they operate in. ‘Sustainability impact through products and services’ ranked most important when considering all participants’ responses. This points to media professionals acknowledging the enormous reach that their products and services have, and therefore the significant impact that their industry has the power to create.