Webinar Recap: Sustaining Sustainability

In a world of constant change—shifting political winds, evolving industry priorities, and emerging global challenges—how do we ensure that sustainability remains more than a buzzword?

In this webinar, we explore how to anchor sustainability initiatives in lasting values, even as external pressures shift. Together with two insightful panellists, GBA will unpack what it takes to create resilient strategies that withstand short-term distractions and long-term industry changes.

What to Expect:

• Insights on navigating political and economic headwinds

• Real-world examples of sustainable initiatives that endure

• Strategies for embedding sustainability into the core of organizational culture and practice

• Interactive Q&A with our panel of sustainability leaders

  
  

Let’s talk about how we build sustainability that lasts.

Panellists:

Kay Rollans (Brush Education)

Brad Farmer (Gibbs Smith)

Moderated by Jarin Pintana (GBA) with input from Brian O'Leary (BISG, GBA), Karina Urquhart (BIC, GBA), & Lauren Stewart (BookNet, GBA).

Click Here to Watch the Webinar

BIC Sustainability Updates: Practical Tools and Progress Across the UK Book Market

By Karina Urquhart

The Book Industry Communication (BIC) team has had a productive start to 2025, launching new resources and continuing important initiatives to support sustainability in the book supply chain. Here's a quick overview of our latest events and updates:

EUDR Data Flows Workshop

On April 23, 2025 BIC hosted its  Practicalities of EUDR workshop, an in-depth, hands-on session focused on understanding the data requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation. Facilitated by Simon Crump (BIC’s Environmental Consultant) and hosted by Karina Urquhart (BIC’s Executive Director) at the HarperCollins Publishers’ London offices, the event brought together representatives from 22 organisations across the book supply chain, including publishers (of various types and sizes), booksellers, printers, distributors, data aggregators, service providers, and system vendors.

The overarching focus of the day was on data flows, tracking the journey from tree to paper to finished book. The agenda featured three intensive work sessions aimed at unpacking what compliance with EUDR will require at each stage. The day was collaborative, well-received, and served as an important step in building shared understanding and next steps across the industry. 

BIC is now collating and digesting all feedback from the sessions. Planned follow-ups include forming an EUDR email support group, hosting additional workshops when needed, and launching a formal BIC project to develop clear, collective guidance on EUDR-compliant data flows for the UK book industry.

New Sustainability 101 Guides

A new series from BIC’s Green Hub, the first two editions of our brand new Sustainability 101 Guides are now out! Free to download, BIC’s Sustainability 101 Guides are a series of short, “back-to-basics” introductory level papers on sustainability topics of interest to BIC Members and non-members alike.

The first two guides that we’ve published are: 

1. The What and Why of SustainabilityTopics covered in this guide include: What is sustainability? Why is sustainability important? What is climate change? What do we need to do to act on it? And more…

2. Scopes 1, 2 and 3: How to Start Calculating and How to ImproveTopics covered in this guide include: What do we mean by Scopes 1, 2 and 3? Hints and tips on how to start measuring each one, worked examples and more…

   
   

More guides are coming soon!

Environmental Data Reporting Project

Launched in June of 2023, the purpose of this 2-part BIC project is to facilitate and launch BIC’s provision of regular, consistent industry reporting and monitoring of the progress being made with regards to book industry sustainability against agreed targets.

• Part 1 - The final report from Part 1 of this project (Current Practices in the Industry) was published in September 2024 and is available to download for free from the BIC Green Hub. It’s packed with useful information on regulatory reports, externally audited certifications, internal and external reports, reporting platforms and much more.

• Part 2 - The overall purpose of Part 2 of this project focuses on priority reporting areas. The goal is to agree with key stakeholders what the initial priority areas for reporting and monitoring for the UK book industry are, and to then agree best practice for both the provision, collection, and sharing of this data by BIC for these areas going forwards. 

The most recent monthly summary project report and the full project brief are available on our website.

Designed for Recycling: Part 3 Now Live

Launched in April 2024, the purpose of the third and final part of this BIC project is to continue and build upon the work already completed in Part: 1 Life Cycle Assessment, and Part 2: Initial Design to Manufactured Book, and complete the journey to the end-of-life of a book. Part 3 is investigating efficiencies for reducing materials waste (e.g. packaging, cartons, shrink wrap) post-production. It is also looking at packaging materials associated with ‘returns.’ The project examines the materials used for packaging, so that books can be supplied with recyclability and waste prevention in mind from post-production to end-of-life.

The most recent monthly summary project report and the full project brief are available on our website. 

The completed reports for Part 1 and Part 2 are both free to download:

Designed for Recycling Project Part 1 – Life Cycle Assessment

Designed for Recycling: Part 2 – Initial Design to Manufactured Book

For more information on BIC’s sustainability activities and industry projects, please check the Green Hub on the BIC website and also the 2025/26 Strategy page and summary slides.

Embedding Sustainability Into Everyday Business: A Recap of GBA at ConTEXT London 2025

On March 10, 2025, the Green Book Alliance (GBA) had the opportunity to present at ConTEXT London, an essential industry gathering that brought together key stakeholders from across the book supply chain. ConTEXT continues to foster critical discussions around environmental and economic issues in publishing, from shifting consumer habits to evolving regulations and supply chain disruptions.

The GBA-facilitated session, Beyond the Baseline: Moving Ahead with Carbon Calculation, featured insights from Brian O’Leary (BISG), Karina Urquhart (BIC), and Lauren Stewart (BookNet Canada). Our discussion focused on the increasing necessity for publishers to move beyond compliance-driven sustainability efforts and toward proactive carbon accounting and reduction strategies. With regulatory pressures such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) consuming much of publishers’ attention, our session underscored the importance of embedding sustainability into everyday business operations, ensuring that the industry is not just reacting to legislation but actively driving long-term environmental responsibility.

Key Takeaways from ConTEXT

1. The Need for Carbon Calculation Tools – There is a growing consensus that publishers must be equipped with standardized tools to measure their carbon footprints, both for operations and individual book products. GBA is actively working on making available tools that will help publishers track their carbon emissions, supporting industry-wide transparency and accountability.

2. Shifting from Compliance to Strategy – While compliance with regulations like EUDR is essential, publishers must also recognize the broader need for integrating sustainability in publishing operations. Our discussion highlighted how sustainability fluency should become as ingrained in publishing workflows as financial and production planning.

3. Industry Appetite for Sustainability Leadership – Feedback from ConTEXT attendees reinforced that the industry values structured sustainability initiatives and looks to organizations like GBA for leadership. A particular highlight was BookNet Canada’s efforts to measure its own carbon footprint since 2020, demonstrating a model from which other organizations are eager to learn.

4. Collaboration is Key – Events like ConTEXT provide invaluable spaces for industry stakeholders to share experiences and develop collective solutions. GBA remains committed to supplementing these in-person gatherings with webinars, meetings, and workshops to ensure sustainability remains at the forefront of industry discussions.

   
   

Moving Forward with Sustainability

We are grateful for the opportunity to engage with industry leaders and appreciate HP and Ashley Gordon’s efforts in fostering meaningful dialogue through this event.

We encourage industry stakeholders to reach out to us with their sustainability innovations and challenges—collaboration and industry buy-in are vital for lasting change. Together, we can ensure that sustainability becomes an intrinsic part of publishing’s future.

For those who missed our session at ConTEXT, we invite you to join us at the upcoming GBA event at Frankfurt 2025, where we will further explore these topics and share updates on our ongoing projects. More details can be found here.