Green Charter 2024

green charter for film festival

Les Arcs Film Festival has signed the Green Charter for Film Festivals for the 2021 edition, committing itself in particular to measuring its consumption and publishing an annual progress report. This text is the report for the 2024 edition, which took place from 14 to 21 December.

As we point out every year, our awareness of our impact, our commitment to following the charter and our actions do not negate the fact that organising an event such as ours causes pollution. The progress we are making should not make us forget how much still needs to be done. However, we strongly believe that organising a cultural event is important in many ways, and we also believe that we have the power to influence our festival-goers. It is not just a question of CO2 at a given moment in time; spreading our philosophy and generating debate on the subject is just as important!

In accordance with the Green Charter, we have implemented a charter for our team, one for our partners and one for our participants. We have also implemented a charter and a process to combat gender-based and sexual violence.

In 2024, we decided to support the local branch of the National Forestry Office (ONF), which is involved in reforesting three hectares of forest that have been affected by drought over the last two years. For 2025, thanks to your donations and our compensation, we are continuing our support for the ONF so that they can reforest the clearings with species that are more resistant to the new climatic conditions.

In addition to these specific commitments to local environmental and biodiversity protection organisations, we have obtained REEVE level 2 certification during the 2023 edition. The association works to raise awareness of environmental issues among those involved in the cultural sector and offers training, online resources and advice. Their label aims to reward and identify cultural events that are committed to exemplary eco-responsibility in France and Europe.

Energy consumption (5% of total consumption)

Our offices are heated year-round with electric radiators, which account for the majority of our electricity consumption. We have carried out work to completely renovate our double-glazed windows and thermal insulation in 2024 and keep the premises at 19°C, which has led to a significant reduction in consumption this year. We use a supplier that guarantees 100% renewable electricity.

👍 14,852 kWh in 2023 compared to 17,087 kWh in 2023 for our offices' annual consumption, representing a decrease of approximately 15%.

We estimated indirect electricity consumption, particularly for the streaming servers we used to watch films and make our selection, at 2.5 kWh per film viewed. We estimate that in 2023 we had the same consumption as in 2022. Our IT equipment consists mainly of laptops that we have purchased refurbished or that we have had for several years.

➡️ 3,375 kWh in 2023 - stable

In 2022, we had new estimates of electricity consumption for residences, which we were unable to obtain in 2023.

In 2024, however, we were able to obtain the electricity consumption figures for two of the cinemas that were entirely dedicated to us.

➡️ 22,588 kWh for the Taillefer theatre, the Festival theatre and the Stage. It is difficult to make a comparison with the previous year, as the measurements are not consistent.

Food consumption (4% of total consumption)

Meat-based food has a significant impact on our carbon footprint. Although one could argue that even if the festival had not taken place, guests and staff would have eaten according to their usual diet anyway, we believe that we have a responsibility for what we serve, particularly to our staff. We asked all our catering partners to systematically include vegetarian options on their menus so that festival-goers could choose freely. It is difficult to demand details about their suppliers and the quality of the food, but we raised their awareness as much as we could.

As for the team's catering, we provided 100% vegetarian catering for all volunteers (around 80% of the team), and for the others we made every other meal vegetarian. Individual tray meals are still the most practical option in some cases, but this is now very rare. Most of our cocktails are vegetarian.

We had control over our kitchen and offered only seasonal fruit and vegetables, local cheese, and organic and local yoghurts and apples.

👍 2,250 vegetarian team meals served in 2024 (90% of meals served)

👍 28 tray meals served in 2024 compared to 395 in 2023

👍 990 vegetarian meals served to guests in 2024 compared to 530 in 2023

Waste

We have not calculated the CO2 equivalent impact of waste (recovery, treatment, etc.), which is complicated and not necessarily significant in relation to the rest here. However, limiting waste, making the right material choices and recycling are goals that are important to us.

Paper

For participants, we continue to print our information and promotional materials. Paper remains an ideal and practical medium for some people and in certain situations, and is not so polluting if used in reasonable quantities. In recent years, we have stopped systematically giving brochures and catalogues to regular digital users, which has reduced our printing by almost half. Our printer is based in Bourg Saint Maurice to avoid transport and is certified (production, inks, paper, etc.).

➡️ 683 kg of paper consumed in 2024, perfectly stable compared to 2023.

👎 53 kg of paper used in the office (reams) compared to 33 kg in 2022

➡️ 62% recycled paper in 2024. (stable compared to 2023)

Marketing materials

For several years now, we have been creating undated communication materials with neutral graphics so that they can be reused year after year until they wear out (banners, kakemonos, signage, etc.). Most of our consumption consists of replacing worn-out items.

➡️ 2 kg of marketing materials produced in 2024, stable compared to 2023

Carpet

Every year, we use ‘exhibition’ carpet provided by the Bourg Saint Maurice town hall. It is reused for other events throughout the year until it wears out. A more sustainable solution has been considered, but we do not have storage space for a more durable carpet between festivals.

➡️ An estimated 500 kg of carpet in 2024 and 2023.

Plastic bottles

With our local mineral water partner Bonneval (the source is in the municipality of Bourg Saint Maurice), we have managed to completely ban plastic bottles, replacing them with water fountains or glass bottles that are then recycled.

➡️ 0 plastic bottles in 2024 and 2023

Recyclable waste

We weigh recyclable waste throughout the year and from the festival sites during the event.

👍 134 kg in 2022 compared to 153 kg in 2023, a 45% reduction

Consumption due to transport (91% of total consumption)

Transport is by far the biggest source of consumption and impact. It is also an area over which we have little control: on the one hand, we are dependent on polluting technologies and, on the other, we have no influence over the choices made by our participants. What we can do is optimise, by favouring buses, filling vehicles to maximum capacity, and promoting less polluting means of transport (train rather than plane). Depending on the regions featured and the editorial content of the festival, air travel can vary greatly from one year to the next. Over the last two years, we have featured the Alpine regions, which are geographically close to the festival.

Train (less than 1% of total impact)

👍 169,393 km travelled by train in 2024 by the team, compared to 161,586 km in 2023, and 114,973 km for invited participants, compared to 155,662 km in 2023

Airplane (60% of total impact)

As far as the team is concerned, we take the train as often as possible, even for long journeys, which is reflected in the increase in team train travel, but sometimes flying is necessary to travel to festivals. The year 2024 saw a sharp increase, as we travelled more by plane.

👎 20,980 km in 2024 compared to 6,405 km in 2023

Air travel for our guests has fallen sharply. In 2023, we had exceptional transatlantic trips that we did not have in 2024.

👍 53,367 km in 2023 compared to 115,504 km in 2023

For non-guest participants, the figures are stable.

➡️ 263,859 km in 2023 compared to 264,534 km in 2022, an increase of 1%.

Cars and buses (24% of total impact)

Our official transport is still down this year, mainly thanks to route optimisation (waiting for more people at stations and airports to avoid sending several vehicles for similar timetables, for example).

👎 7,728 litres of petrol consumed in 2024 compared to 6,646 litres in 2023

The number of participants arriving by private car has fallen significantly, but this is based on self-reported data, which is not necessarily reliable.

👍 4,916 kilometres travelled in 2024 compared to 22,550 kilometres in 2023

Conclusions

For our 16th edition, the festival has stabilised overall in many areas and we have seen an overall reduction in CO2e consumption (70t vs 78t), which encourages us to persevere in our efforts, which are paying off, despite the event still growing.

We are pleased to see continued progress in our results, which show that together we can do better. We would like to thank the teams, participants and partners for their efforts and commitment. And we are committed to continuing on this path!

Carbon equivalent calculations were made using data from econologie.com, Enercoop and ADEME's impactco2.com. The calculations are not always accurate (as there is sometimes insufficient data, for example on the difference between diesel and petrol) and are not intended to represent a true carbon footprint, but they do allow us to assess our position and understand our impact.