Advancing Media Sustainability: Highlights from the Ecoflow X Workshop Report

By Kristan Bullett, CEO, Humans Not Robots

Setting the Stage: The Ecoflow Project

Streaming’s environmental impact involves every aspect of the delivery chain. Recognising this, Humans Not Robots was a founding member of the Ecoflow accelerator, an IBC2024 initiative that aimed to unite media industry stakeholders to measure, analyse, and reduce the environmental footprint of digital media delivery.

In 2024, Ecoflow I measured the environmental footprint at the end-user device level, providing granular consumer data. Ecoflow II, launched a year later, extended the analysis to the distribution chain, using scenario modelling to reveal where inefficiencies and environmental costs concentrated.

In January 2026, the team behind these projects convened the Sustainability in Media Workshop, held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in London, to plan the future of Ecoflow. The event assembled engineers, product owners, and sustainability specialists representing the full breadth of the media sector. The workshop’s findings, drawn from a synthesis of industry sentiment about risks, opportunities, and priorities, provided the foundation for Ecoflow X. The resulting report documents a sector-wide effort to move beyond theory into practical, systemic change.

Ecoflow X: Collaboration and Sector Involvement

Ecoflow X is a joint undertaking. Core partners include Humans Not Robots, Accedo, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and ITV. Participants in the project span multiple areas, including:

• Content owners and broadcasters with direct responsibility for streamed media
• Providers of infrastructure and distribution platforms
• Technology suppliers who deliver software, hardware, or analytics
• Industry groups representing a cross-section of the media landscape

This broad coalition enabled us to map the operational realities and identify where meaningful environmental policy can have a measurable effect.

Report Focus and Driving Thesis

The Ecoflow X report serves a clear purpose. Its main objective is to enable the streaming industry to significantly reduce its environmental footprint through accurate, data-driven analysis. The report delivers a synthesis of industry thinking on sustainability, detailing urgent risks, pinpointing substantial opportunities, and naming the primary challenges to progress.

Main Findings: What the Data Tells Us

Four key takeaways surfaced:

1. Sustainability has become inseparable from operational considerations. The sector increasingly frames environmental responsibility through cost, efficiency, and compliance. Specifically, cost and efficiency risks occupy the highest-urgency categories for most decision-makers. ‍
2. Business alignment is essential for progress. Lasting improvements must integrate with how organisations actually run. As captured in the report: "If it doesn't reduce cost or risk, it doesn't survive prioritisation." ‍
3. The greatest potential lies in distribution and infrastructure. These areas hold the largest opportunities for cutting carbon and curtailing energy use across a fragmented value chain. ‍
4. Barriers remain, especially around data and trust.
   
   • Organisations struggle with limited data access and prioritisation conflicts
   • Commercial confidentiality is a persistent blocker for sharing critical information
   • Much of the data needed for change already exists but is not accessible in practice: "The data exists — access is the problem."
   • Current improvement cycles are reactive, relying on lagging indicators: "Everything we do today is based on yesterday's data."

Next Steps: Turning Analysis into Action

To address these challenges, Ecoflow X is focused on reducing obstacles by moving beyond theoretical models and frameworks to develop tested, repeatable solutions for the sector. The initiative proposes practical ways for organisations to share data while protecting sensitive information and lays out a concrete path of action in the workshop report. This will guide the transition from isolated experiments to industry-wide improvement.

In the coming months, the Ecoflow X initiative will continue to evolve in partnership with stakeholders across the industry. This collaborative effort will culminate in a dedicated showcase at IBC2026, where results and progress will be presented as part of the IBC Partner Program. The event will provide an opportunity to demonstrate practical impact, share lessons learnt, and define future priorities for sustainability in media streaming.

Explore the Full Report

For a comprehensive look at the findings, you'll find a summary of the Sustainability in Media report HERE, and the Sustainability in Media full report HERE.

If you would like your organisation to play a role in the future direction of Ecoflow X, I encourage you to reach out. Let’s use these insights to build sustained, measurable improvements across the media streaming sector. If you're attending the IBC2026 show, you can see our plans and book your meeting with us here.