RTÉ’s Cláracha Gaeilge (Irish Language Programming) has been awarded certification from Albert for Sustainable Production and minimising its carbon footprint.

Albert certification was awarded to Cláracha Gaeilge for all five programmes in the new series, Gafa  (Gafa leis an Underdog, Gafa le Grá, Gafa le Tarracóirí, Gafa leis an Aimsir and Gafa leis na Royals), the first RTÉ programmes to receive this certification. The team are also seeking certification for the upcoming series of Scannal.

The Albert Carbon Calculator is specifically designed for programme making and is a widely recognised tool which is used by other broadcasters throughout the UK and around the world.

The Albert certification follows online training sessions organised by RTÉ for our producers and directors and all support personnel on how to use the Albert Carbon Calculator to reduce the carbon footprint of RTÉ productions  in line with RTÉ’s commitments.

Assistant Producer, Sonia Patterson, explains that following the training the team started closely scrutinising their production to “improve our practices to lessen the environmental impact our of work.  What we learned was that environmental savings often equate to financial savings. So as an extra bonus we managed to make some savings in our budget. The key really is to just take everything one step at a time.”

Commenting on this achievement by Cláracha Gaeilge, Programme Department Assistant, Maria Schaler added, “I think the whole team is quite proud to have been awarded certification for the series.  While the process took a bit of time, work, and thinking it was so worthwhile because in the end, not only did we reduce the carbon – and financial – cost of our programmes, but we have also been recognised for this effort by Albert. We are delighted to include the Albert Sustainable Production stamp on our programme end boards and we hope that it will inspire other production teams to work towards earning certification as well.”

Congratulating Cláracha Gaeilge, RTÉ’s Sustainability and Environment Services Manager, Eileen Duggan said: “We congratulate Cláracha Gaeilge for successfully using the Albert tool and receiving certification for a sustainable production. Climate change is impacting significantly on how everything should be done going forward.  More and more people are asking questions about carbon impact and programmes are no exception.   Albert will help us measure our impact and through the information it provides guide us towards more sustainable ways of doing things. Hopefully, more and more programmes will take on this challenge and like Cláracha Gaeilge be able to boast a certified sustainable production. Many thanks also to Nicki Rocca who has actively promoted and supported the use of Albert.”

The Screen Greening Coalition which comprises the BAI, RTÉ, Screen Ireland, Screen Producers Ireland, TG4 and Virgin Media Ireland has jointly funded the introduction of the Albert Carbon Calculator in Ireland.

For more information on how to use the Albert Carbon Calculator, contact Eileen Duggan.