Book Industry Environmental Council

Reducing Climate Impacts

The committee tasked with setting a goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions examined a wide range of commitments to reduce climate impacts, including international agreements and commitment at the corporate, state, regional, and national level. The committee also considered scientific data around what must be done on a societal level to avoid the most severe consequences of climate change.
The goal proposed by the committee is a 20% reduction by 2020 from a 2006 baseline, with the intent of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. This is an “absolute” goal rather than a reduction in carbon intensity, which would be a reduction in greenhouse gases relative to some other metric (e.g. revenues, or pounds of product produced). The goal would encompass all emissions associated with producing books, including impacts associated with paper production.

The committee strongly believes that the 20% reduction by 2020 goal is both meaningful and achievable. At current levels of production a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved if the industry were to:

Reduce the portion of books returned from 25% to 20%
Increase average PCW content in books from 5% to 30% for all paper types
Reduce average basis weight by 7% compared to 2006 levels

There are many different ways to achieve a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and the above is just one of many examples.
There is debate among council members about the best methods of accounting for carbon lost from forest when trees are harvested to manufacture paper. The council will continue to seek guidance from the scientific community regarding such calculations. Consequently, the baseline that the goal is compared to might change when a methodology for counting forest carbon storage & loss is ultimately agreed upon.

Read the official proposal: Achieving the Book Industry Environmental Council Climate Goal (PDF)

See the numbers: Book Industry Climate Impact Calculator