SDG Publishers Compact at Taylor & Francis one year in: A Q&A with Catherine Hodgson, Sustainability Manager, Taylor & Francis

The UN Sustainable Development Goals Publishers Compact is a pledge which features 10 action points to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Signing the pledge affirms an ongoing commitment to sustainable practices and to champion the SDGs during this UN Decade of Action (2020-2030). The UN SDGs are 17 goals set up in 2015 as a “blueprint” for a better and more sustainable future for all; these goals “cut across disciplines, sectors, and institutional mandates, acknowledging the integrated nature of the many challenges that humanity faces – from gender inequality to inadequate infrastructure, from youth unemployment to environmental degradation.” We sat down with our first ever Sustainability Manager at Taylor & Francis, Catherine Hodgson, to ask her about her work with the Publishers Compact in 2021. We discussed how the organization has progressed with its work towards fulfilling the compact since January, and asked her what the next steps were as we head into the final months of 2021.

Leah Kinthaert:

“Can you tell me a little about how Taylor & Francis came to sign the SDG Publishers Compact, and also why you feel publishing as an industry is important to the promotion of the SDGs?”

Catherine Hodgson:

“One of our portfolio development specialists (Laura Kelleher, who is part of the Life, Earth, and Environmental Science team) heard about the launch of the UN SDG Publishers Compact and felt it would be a good way for Taylor & Francis to publicly affirm our support for the Sustainable Development Goals. It aligned with similar existing goals around Climate Action and Sustainability more generally. As an academic publisher, and as part of Informa PLC, we play an important role in promoting Quality Education (SDG4) by connecting people with knowledge to help them learn more, know more, and do more. By pledging our support for this compact we remain committed to publishing content and resources that amplify progress towards achieving the SDGs. Taylor & Francis is known for the breadth and depth of our content across all subject areas and through our specialist resources, like SDG Online, we connect academic communities with a huge amount of interdisciplinary content that spans all 17 goals.”

Leah:

“On the UN’s site they list over 100 publishers in the compact, from all over the globe. Has there been any sort of collaboration between Taylor & Francis and these publishers, or other partners, to develop, localize, and scale projects that will advance progress on the SDGs individually or through a Publishing Association?”

Catherine:

“Partnerships are integral to Taylor & Francis being able to commission, validate, publish, disseminate, and curate the latest research that helps address some of the biggest challenges that society is currently facing. We are proud to partner with many organizations and industry bodies that help us progress access to educational resources and specialist knowledge. To name a few, these include Research4Life, BookShare, RNIB, Access Text, and INASP. We are also an active member of the Publishers Association’s Sustainability Taskforce, contributing our specialist expertise to develop an industry-focused carbon calculator, materials matrix, climate pledge, and focused reporting.”

“We are working with authors and other partners to publish more content on and around the SDGs; for example Taylor & Francis’ Earth & Environmental Sciences editors and society partners will be publishing a series of cross-portfolio special issues on policy-relevant topics, beginning with the policy priorities expressed in the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Missions, to be published on World Earth Day 2022.”

“We are also launching new journals and products developed around the SDGs, so that every section aligns with specific ones as part of their scope and supports interdisciplinary research. Our first three are fully Open Access journals Sustainable Environment, All Life and All Earth.” 

“F1000, which joined the Taylor & Francis group in January 2020, publishes research across all subject areas and in each of the 17 goals across more than 10 Platforms. The Emerald Group Publishing’s open research platform, Emerald Open Research, is built around Gateways aligned to the goals. Each of the six Gateways on the platform seeks to address several of the goals by encouraging the swift publication of relevant research in an open format. This rapid and open format helps ensure that such topic research is made as widely available and as rapidly as possible.”  

Leah:

“There are 10 SDG Compact Commitments that we signed, ranging from raising awareness to dedicating budget towards accelerating progress. In your experience, in which commitment have you seen Taylor & Francis make some of the greatest strides.”

Catherine:

“Over the past 12 months T&F has made fantastic progress towards commitments 9 and 10 – Dedicating budget and resources towards SDG-dedicated projects and taking action on SDG goals. Creating a more sustainable print supply chain is an ongoing priority for us and we have really focused on reducing our waste and emissions through several initiatives. These include:

• Increasing the use of print-on-demand services to better match production with demand and reduce physical stock levels
• Donating unused book stock to BookAid and Amnesty International, avoiding waste and contributing to the wider sharing of knowledge
• Implementing a programme to remove plastic packaging from printed journals, which now covers nearly 75% of products.

The remaining carbon emissions from our printed products and supply chain are now calculated and compensated for through the purchase of high-quality carbon credits. As a result, we have achieved CarbonNeutral® publication certification from Natural Capital Partners, the leading experts on carbon neutrality and climate finance, in line with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.”

Leah: 

“Is yours a new role at Taylor & Francis? Can you tell us why it was created, and a little bit about what you do every day?”

Catherine:

“My role as Sustainability Manager was created in 2020 to help accelerate progress towards T&F’s new sustainability program, FasterForward. It’s such a rewarding job and allows me to act as a point of contact for all things sustainability and SDG-related as well as coordinate various projects across the business. Day to day you’ll find me working on anything from carbon emissions reporting to running a sustainability webinar for our colleagues.”

Leah:

“What are some of the initiatives that Taylor & Francis has undertaken this year to actively promote and acquire content that advocates for themes represented by the SDGs, such as equality, sustainability, justice, and safeguarding and strengthening the environment?”

Catherine:

“There is an absolute wealth of content and resources that we have published and produced in the last year that represent the latest research and thought leadership around the SDGs. Our flagship product, Sustainable Development Goals Online, continues to grow with new content (including teaching materials) being added each year. In 2020 we also launched two interdisciplinary SDG-focused journals – All Life and All Earth. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social justice issues that were highlighted in 2020, we created two microsites and a research gateway, making a broad collection of articles, book chapters, and information freely accessible to advance research and discourse around these important topics. 2020 was also an important year for progressing our commitment to open research through the acquisition of F1000.”

“F1000 is a strong supporter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs),  responding to these pressing needs by fostering a culture of innovation to accelerate the reach of knowledge and put it in the hands of those who will shape the future. They provide open research publishing solutions and services to organizations such as the European Commission, Wellcome, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as directly to researchers through the  F1000Research platform, among others.” 

“Several recent Gateway launches in F1000Research focus on the SDGs. The Human Migration Research Gateway launching this month examines central issues around the goals, including the legal rights of displaced persons, multigenerational integration, societal and political responses to mass migration, and negative climatic changes on agriculture leading to increased urbanization, among others. The Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition Gateway provides a space for the rapid and open dissemination of all research related to key global sustainability challenges, particularly those on responsible consumption and production, climate action, and zero hunger, as well as a focus on making agricultural data more openly available for researchers, practitioners, and the public.”

“Since 2015, Wellcome have supported a global community of researchers who are taking on the challenges that food systems, increasing urbanization, and climate change pose to our health. This year Wellcome have announced Climate and Health as one of their strategic pillars, with focused goals to be published soon. Wellcome Open Research is and will continue to be a key venue for disseminating Wellcome-funded climate research. Indeed, this year the platform published the Cities Rapid Assessment Framework for Transformation (CRAFT) tool, and an outline of the Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) program.”

“The AAS Open Research Platform that launched in 2018 has served to amplify the voice of African science in the important global discussion about the need to improve the equity, fairness, accessibility, and measurement of research output.”

“Lastly, the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) open research platform brings together over 150 charities whose research spans the 13 targets of Goal 3. The platform highlights the important and valuable research contributions that charities make to improving and saving lives, whilst offering a low-cost publishing solution to charities whose budgets have severely declined since the pandemic began.”  

Leah:

“Has Taylor & Francis been successful in any initiatives geared towards raising awareness and promoting  the SDGs among suppliers, or advocating for SDGs? Please tell our readers a little about them.”

Catherine:

“One success story I’d like to highlight is the work that our vendor and supplier management teams have done to engage with our printing and distribution partners. Fostering a good relationship with our suppliers is crucial in order to meet our commitments of becoming a zero waste and net zero carbon business by 2030. Our teams have held webinars and regular meetings to share T&F’s targets, progress, and achievements. Engaging with our printers has been essential in our ongoing efforts to reduce and remove plastics from our journals supply chain. In 2020 our compliance team also helped design a program  for identifying modern slavery in our Journals supply chain. While there are no indications that modern slavery is an issue at our suppliers, our aim is to check that the suppliers that our printers and distribution partners use are following good practice, and to work with them to make a positive contribution to the well-being of staff working on our account.”

Leah: 

“What has been the most rewarding SDG project you’ve undertaken this year?”

Catherine:

“Without a doubt, working on the project to achieve CarbonNeutral® publication certification for our print Books and Journals has been incredibly rewarding and has allowed us to gain a new level of insight into our supply chain. By gathering detailed data on the emissions from the production of the paper we use, the energy used to manufacture our books and journals, and the emissions from transporting products to customers, we can target the areas more effectively where we can continue to make impactful changes that will reduce our emissions even further.”

Leah: 

“How has the organization been an advocate to customers and stakeholders via promoting and actively communicating  the SDG agenda?”

Catherine:

“I really believe that it is through our extensive range of specialist products and services that T&F helps communicate the relevance of the SDG goals. We publish resources and content across all 17 goals, connecting everyone from funders, students to instructors, practicing professionals, and policymakers with the research that demonstrates real impact and thought leadership.”

Leah:

“What are the next steps for the 10 commitments as we near the end of 2021?”

Catherine:

“Our main priority is around the work that we are doing around our in-house sustainability program  – FasterForward. It commits us to a set of ambitious targets and activities that will ensure we become an increasingly sustainable, positive impact organization. These goals include becoming a zero waste and net zero carbon business by 2030, embedding sustainability inside all our products, promoting the achievement of the SDGS, and enabling 1 million disconnected individuals to access our products and services by 2025.”

“Our FasterForward targets and the SDG compact’s commitments definitely overlap and there are several projects in the works where we are making great progress. One of these projects is focused on mapping and measuring the extent to which our published content supports the SDGs, which will allow us to make more informed commissioning decisions. We are also excited about the new taylorandfrancis.com website where we will continue to develop content and share our progress with customers.”

“Ahead of COP26, the Climate Action Gateway on F1000Research will be revamped. The Gateway will collate research related to all aspects of climate, making available openly the data, methods, and implications which underpin work that is critical to humankind’s efforts to solve one of the greatest challenges we face collectively this century.”

“Finally, in the run-up to COP-26 Taylor & Francis will be launching a corporate Sustainability Hub which will include curated climate action content and showcase some of our own activities around becoming a more sustainable, positive impact business.”