No one gets to net zero by themselves. We all recognize the need to work together across the entire book value chain to make our processes more efficient, to reduce waste and recycle and reuse. Yet, one curious area of the book business are book returns. Returning unsold books for credit or refund is considered an essential part of the bookselling business. In the process, we ship books between retailers and warehouses, try and resell return copies and ultimately end up pulping unwanted titles. The latest report from RISE Bookselling, a project led by the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), investigates seven case studies of how book returns work in European and international countries. We reached out to Daniel Martin Brennan and Tora Åsling, Policy Advisor and Policy Officer at the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) for more details. 

On a bright, sunny day in the centre of Amsterdam, Dutch publishers gathered together to be inspired to take action on climate change. In a historical 19th Century wooden warehouse, in a completely sustainable venue, publishers discussed their own actions and challanges to reach Net Zero. Whilst some were further ahead in their journey, installing solar panels in offices and using sustainabile materials in their book designs. For others, it was the perfect venue to be inspired and launch the new knowledge platform, www.duurzaampubliceren.nl, to help give practical resources and tools.  We heard from the co-organizers, and sustainability leads, Sanne Walraven and Nienke Bakker about the event and sustainability for Dutch publishers.

At Frankfurt Book Fair, I was really happy to present a prototype for a carbon label for books as part of the presentation of the Publishing 2030 Accelerator during IPA’s Sustainability Summit.

The SDG Publishers Compact, launched by the International Publishers Association and the United Nations back in 2020, has continued to gather momentum for the wider publishing sector. In practice, the compact requires aligning our daily practices, our content, and measures of success to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One sector accelerating progress has been academic publishing.