Terra Mater Factual Studios Pledges to Go Climate-Neutral

Vienna-based Terra Mater Factual Studios has set plans to sustainably produce all its films beginning January 1 as part of its strategy to go climate-neutral.

The production company pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent between 2019 and 2030. To reach this target, all of its future films will be subject to strict, self-imposed green-producing regulations, using its public green reports as guidelines.

Terra Mater Factual Studios has worked to help the environment in other ways, as well. The company switched to green energy at its headquarters in 2015, and in 2020, constructed an office extension that is certified Silver by the Austrian klimaaktiv building standard. Its car fleet is in the process of going electric, with half the vehicles planned to be electric in 2023.

In addition, Terra Mater Factual Studios works to offset any unavoidable emissions. Its corporate carbon footprint of this year was offset by Forest Protection Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Kenya.

The company has already made a head start in sustainable production, as two of its recent projects—Collider Diaries and Hippo King—attained the UZ76 Austrian eco-label.

The company’s current emissions reduction strategy was created in collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) Competence Center for Climate Change.

Walter Köhler, CEO of Terra Mater Factual Studios, said: “As makers of films about the natural world, this is a responsibility we have always tried to fulfill, but now our efforts will become measurable, accountable and transparent for all: we will be publishing the numbers. We are also compiling green guidelines for every production, in line with international criteria. From 2022, these will be mandatory for our partners as well—climate protection can only function as a joint effort.”

Nina Holler, sustainability manager at Terra Mater, added: “Extending our sustainability goals to include all our partners was the logical next step in driving this movement forward. The transparent green reports on these fixed sustainability measures, plus a CO2 calculation for each film, will help us to expand our reduction target, particularly as there are very few comparative datasets available within our industry.”