Netflix exists to entertain the world, and that requires a habitable world to entertain.To deliver on reduced greenhouse gas emissions, Netflix made the following progress in 2021: worked with their utilities, landlords, and streaming partners to switch to renewable electricity, swapped in renewable diesel on their productions, trialed EVs, replaced diesel generators with mobile batteries or hydrogen power units, and bought sustainable aviation fuel.

In 2021, Netflix designed a 2030 decarbonization roadmap that includes setting milestones for internal decarbonization as part of their low carbon transition planning process.

They conducted a company-wide climate risk assessment, led by their Internal Audit and Sustainability teams.

Over half of Netflix’s footprint lies within the physical production of Netflix-branded content (productions), followed by their corporate operations and purchased goods (corporate), followed by their data center providers (streaming).

To achieve their internal reductions, Netflix’s strategy, “Optimize, Electrify, Decarbonize”, focuses on solutions most relevant to the entertainment industry.

The first step, Optimize, aims to reduce the amount of electricity used in both production work and offices. Next, they aim to Electrify the equipment that uses the most liquid fuels, like vehicles, buildings and generators. For emissions sources where optimization and electrification aren’t possible, they Decarbonize what’s left by installing and purchasing renewable energy.

Netflix doesn’t own the majority of their office and stage space (they lease them), so they aren’t often able to procure renewable electricity directly — instead, they purchase renewable attribute certificates in countries where direct renewable energy purchasing is not available.

Up to 70% of the fuel used by productions goes into vehicles. The company successfully piloted 17 mobile batteries, 70+ electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles, and one hydrogen power unit across 13 productions in 2021.

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In 2021, Netflix purchased 40,000 gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel for their corporate aviation fleet and over 75,000 gallons of renewable diesel for use on productions.

In the same year, the company procured renewable electricity and certificates in an amount equal to all of their Scope 2 emissions.

Based upon five carbon credit project screening criteria, 17 of Netflix’s projects were selected for their 2021 carbon credit portfolio — 73% of the credits by volume have received an additional certification under Verra’s Climate, Community, & Biodiversity program.

In 2021, Netflix supported and streamed Don’t Look Up. The cautionary tale about climate inaction became their second most popular film of all time, driving nearly 360M viewing hours in its first 28 days on the service. The film also sparked extensive conversation online and in the media.

In June, the company released Breaking Boundaries by Silverback Studios, in which globally recognized scientist Dr. Johan Rockstrom and Sir David Attenborough lay out several fast-approaching tipping points to ecological collapse but also the signs that a green revolution may be reaching tipping points of its own.

In 2021, Netflix co-founded the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance, earning public mention by the U.S. White House, and launched the Business Alliance for Scaling Climate Solutions in partnership with other leading companies.

The company also released its first Sustainability Collection of titles in partnership with the COP26 Presidency (the UK government).

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