Digital magazine and newspaper app Readly has announced its latest Sustainability Report with insights into the ESG performance during the past year.
The highlights include 24 percent lower travel emission intensity per employee and an 8 percent increase of emissions saved from digital reading on Readly in comparison to the previous year. Overall, 70 percent of Readly’s sustainability goals were fulfilled in 2022.
“The majority of our subscribers believe it is important that their reading habits are as environmentally friendly as possible and the calculations we have made together with environmental researchers confirm that digital reading is a climate friendly way of consuming magazines and newspapers” said Mats Brandt, CEO, Readly.
Another key focus for Readly is providing subscribers with responsible content and countering the spread of fake news. An important part of that work has been to grow the portfolio of newspapers and add popular titles from reputable and trusted publishers. During 2022 a total of 222 national and regional newspapers were added to the platform as well as 1260 magazines.
According to the latest Readly user survey, the concern around fake news is still apparent and is in fact increasing in some markets. In 2021, 66 percent of subscribers across Europe and the US said that they were concerned about the spread of fake news. At the beginning of 2023 that figure had increased to 79 percent.
“Our research suggests that the willingness to pay for verified news will continue to increase as people realise that fake news is a growing problem that might influence their lives. Our product development is therefore focused on making it easier for subscribers to discover and consume qualitative, verified journalism as much and often as possible” said Brandt.
Out of the ten targets that Readly set up for its prioritised ESG aspects during 2022, seven were achieved including a decrease of business travel emission intensity per employee, initiated measurement of the share of renewable energy sources (46%), and carrying out four editorial campaigns that were focused on topics related to sustainability.
“One target we did not hit was reaching a 20 percent increase in saved emissions from digital reading on Readly. We hope to achieve double digits in 2023 as we continue our path towards profitable subscriber growth. The more people use our service, the stronger positive impact we have on the planet and in society” said Brandt.
Key findings of the report include:
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The total digital reading on Readly during 2022 resulted in a reduction of CO2 emissions corresponding to approximately 16,600 tonnes of CO2e.
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The energy intensity per FTE was 6 percent lower in 2022 compared to 2021. The main reason was a higher share of renewable energy and a continued high share of employees working remote.
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In markets where Readly controls the choice of electricity provider, the energy consumption consists of 83 percent fossil free and 46 percent renewable electricity.
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According to Readly’s global user survey, 67 percent of 6,000 respondents say they read titles they have never read before since they started using Readly. 36% say they read a wider variety of categories and topics.
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For the second year in a row, Readly is presented on the Green List in The Allbright Report 2022 that monitors gender diversity in the management teams of listed companies in Sweden. Readly has a 43/57 percent ratio of women and men on the Senior Leadership team and among managers the split is 50/50 percent.
The Readly Sustainability Report is available here
