1 event, 100,000 views and 2.47T offset CO₂ emissions

The best creators in Germany are honored at the 9:16 Awards. Around 1,200 guests were invited to the Hamburg Schauspielhaus and over 100,000 viewers watched the event via stream. The resulting CO₂ emissions have now been tracked for the first time - and offset. Patrick Schnitzler & Jean-Paul Laue (klima&so) explain how this was done in a guest article.

The story began with a simple question: How can we send a message for sustainability at Germany's largest Creator Economy award ceremony without coming across as uptight and preachy?

Our business model at klima&so is based on offering transparent measurement of social media emissions and making them manageable. Our system calculates the carbon footprint of social media campaigns, livestreams and digital marketing measures on a scientific basis. Nevertheless, the simultaneous tracking of a stream with over 100,000 viewers across four different platforms comes with challenges and complex questions: How many people are likely to watch the event in the stream? How do we track the emissions technically? How do we secure the data? What options are there for offsetting the CO₂ emissions generated?

Together with WeCreate, the organizer of the 9:16 Awards, and a sponsoring partner (1KOMMA5°), we set to work. Our common approach: we track what can be tracked. We compensate for what needs to be compensated for - and show what is not normally communicated.

In order to actually implement the compensation after measurement, we needed a partner like the cleantech start-up 1KOMMA5°. The company is a provider of individual and intelligent energy solutions for buildings, with the aim of converting 500,000 buildings per year to climate-neutral power generation, heating and mobility by 2030. A partner that is also authentically committed to climate protection.

Every view counts

Nevertheless, when over 100,000 people watch a livestream on four different platforms at the same time, it consumes a lot of energy. But how much exactly? To determine the answer as precisely as possible, we set up our own model with various parameters.

Our calculation model included the following aspects:

• The power consumption of the streaming infrastructure on Twitch, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram
• Data transmission between data centers and end devices
• Hardware usage by over 100,000 viewers

We use the figures to apply our model. The result after 180 minutes:

• 2.47 tons of CO₂ equivalents for four parallel streams
• 0.025 kg CO₂ per viewer - less than a kilometer car journey

Interesting for us: Although the figure per viewer seems comparatively low, a very large number of viewers can result in very high CO₂ emissions. However, the important step was not just the measurement, but the way in which the figures were made visible and communicated. During the stream, the organizer repeatedly displayed a live counter that showed the emissions in real time - visible to all viewers. The aim of this display was to raise awareness of the fact that streaming is not for nothing, but has a price.

Reliable compensation without empty words

Instead of vague terms such as "climate neutral" or "sustainable", we chose concrete measures for unavoidable emissions. 1KOMMA5° financed reliable compensation:

• Immediate effect: deletion of 1.2 EU emission allowances from the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Each canceled certificate permanently removes one tonne of CO₂ emission rights from the market.
• Long-term effect: Planting of 6 mixed forest trees on German land without existing reforestation plans.

Desire is more important than ability

The message we want to send out from this event: We cannot continue to ignore our actions, we must take responsibility and we can do something for the climate. The technology exists and the solutions are there. Too often, however, the will to implement them is lacking. Technically, precise emissions tracking even works for events with 100,000+ stream views. Economically, offsetting 2.47 tons of CO₂ costs less than a post promotion on Instagram. But our story, that of sustainability, is much stronger.

When "superficiality" sets standards

The 9:16 AWARDS have shown that reach and marketing can also be made transparent and measurably ecological. An industry event that is quickly ridiculed as superficial has taken responsibility and shown what otherwise remains hidden. The response we received in the weeks that followed was positive. Brands asked for similar solutions for their events and agencies wanted to know how they could transfer the model to campaigns. For us, this was a sign in the right direction. Because reach means taking responsibility.