FERA CEO talks Green Filming at Café Climat Paris

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On 19 June, FERA CEO Pauline Durand-Vialle joined scientists, artists and thinkers for Café Climat Paris, an initiative of the European Alliance of Academies aimed at promoting dialogue on the climate crisis across Europe.

Café Climat Paris is designed to foster exchanges on the climate crisis at a European level. In an informal, café-style setting, scientists, artists and the public sit together around tables to discuss the impacts of the climate crisis on daily life, democracy, art and culture.

Participants were invited to exchange ideas with Matteo Barsuglia (astrophysicist), Lucie Taïeb (writer), Kirsten Reese (composer), J. Emil Sennewald (philosopher and art critic), Liesbeth Bik (visual artist), Claire Dehove (artist and activist), and Pauline on the following topics: Modelling visions of the future, Climate and literature, The role of imagination in climate action, Art and activism and Green Filming.

Pauline contributed to the discussion on Green Filming, sharing key insights on the environmental impact of the audiovisual sector, from high-emission film and TV production to the growing global footprint of streaming platforms. She highlighted major sources of emissions, such as travel, on-set energy use, waste generation and the energy demands of global streaming. She also pointed to innovative sustainability initiatives like carbon calculators and local projects related to green production solutions.

She underlined the importance of using public support to drive measurable climate action as well as the need for stronger sustainability standards across the audiovisual sector. Highlighting the crucial role of creators in telling stories that inspire change while safeguarding artistic freedom, she referred to FERA’s ACTION! Manifesto [link] which is a concrete example of ethical sustainable filmmaking, encouraging industry practices that value cultural integrity alongside environmental responsibility.

Much like the debate between slow and fast food or the impact of fast fashion, audiovisual creation and production can be analysed through the lens of cultural value versus environmental cost: cheap, high-volume content production and distribution carry a heavy footprint, so why not ensure that what we make and share brings genuine local cultural value, especially in a cultural industry that already has such a significant impact on the climate.

The event was organised and hosted by Cécile Wajsbrot, Iris ter Schiphorst, Jovana Popic, Petja Ivanova, Liesbeth Bik and Daniel Hauser – European artists who have created a climate working group within the European Alliance of Academies.