Developing an environmental strategy for UK film - BFI

Flooding, sea level rise, extreme weather events, water availability and the relocation of urban
populations for example, will have a severe impact on the whole of the film industry, from land
availability and loss of locations for filming, resource scarcity, restrictions on the freedom of
movement, increased hostilities from the flurry of environmental refugees, damage to business 10
and rising insurance premiums. Moreover, as the cost of flood defences escalate, through
maintenance and upgrading existing flood defences and building new flood defences, there is a
risk that funding resources and film tax incentives may be redirected to compensate for the ever
expanding flood defence budget and depleting public purse. In fact, one could deduce that the
true scale of the impacts of climate change could cause the eventual collapse of the film industry
if climate change is not tackled on a global scale (not just within the film industry). Therefore,
the film industry by taking a stance to combat climate change could use its power of
communication to increase awareness on a global scale.
Environmental Concerns: Natural Resource Use
Natural resources are naturally occurring substances; they can be renewable and non-renewable.
The UK Government groups natural resources in five overlapping ways 11 : -
1. Raw materials such as minerals and biomass: Minerals (fossil fuels, metal ores, gypsum
and clay) are classed as non-renewable because they cannot be replenished within a
human timescale. Biomass is renewable within the human timeframe and includes
agricultural crops and slowly renewable resources like timber. 12
2. Environmental media such as air, water and soil: Resources which sustain life and
support biological resources.
3. Flow resources such as wind, geothermal, tidal and solar energy: Resources which cannot
be depleted, but require other resources to exploit them. For example, energy, materials
and space are needed to build wind turbines or solar cells.
4. Space: Land for wildlife, rivers and natural processes for them to function healthily, and
land for cities, towns, infrastructure, industry and agriculture.
5. Biological resources: Plants, animals and other organisms maintain the life-sustaining
systems of the earth. Biodiversity (variety of life on earth) is also a resource and includes
the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
If renewable resources are consumed at a rate that exceeds their natural rate of replacement the
resource will diminish and eventually run out, however, if they are used sustainably they can, to a
certain extent, be used indefinitely. Non-renewable resources exist in a fixed amount and cannot
be remade, regrown or regenerated, therefore cannot be used indefinitely.
Pressures on the availability and use of natural resources are increasing. During the past 50 years
the human population has increased from two to seven billion people. With the soar in
population, economic development and increased consumption humans are using 20% more
natural resources each year than can be regenerated. Resource use is often inefficient, both in
production and consumption; approximately 80% of products are discarded after a single use.
10 Zurich insurance conducted a study during 2006 and found 30,000 small to medium businesses suffered from floods at a cost of £86 million
11 http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/key/whatare-natural.htm
12 Although UK forest cover is increasing due to reforestation and sustainable management of woodlands, over 45% of the Earth’s original forest cover has
been lost mostly during the last century.
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