• by October 17, 2019

While plenty of publishers have covered climate change, Guardian Media Group is taking things a step further by pledging to shrink its carbon footprint.

This week, the U.K.-based publisher of The Guardian and The Observer newspapers said it’s the first major news organization to become a B Corporation, which means it meets social and environmental standards. The company also pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

"Our audiences rightly expect high standards in everything we do," David Pemsel, CEO of Guardian Media Group, stated. "Becoming a B Corp is an important step for GMG in making ourselves more accountable.”

I'm surprised that Guardian felt a pressing need to cut its carbon emissions, considering many news publishers aren't cutting down as many trees as they used to, amid a broader shift to digital distribution.

Unlike companies in the energy, manufacturing and shipping industries, media organizations have tiny carbon footprints.

From personal experience, I've seen many media organizations rely on telecommuting staffers who never waste time sitting in traffic. As information workers, they spend much of their time communicating by phone, email and text messaging.

It will be interesting to see if other media organizations make a similar pledge to meet better social and environment standards, if they're not too busy coping with their abysmal #MeToo records.