It’s a question that Netflix will soon be able to answer. While the streaming giant, which reported revenue of $6.6billion last quarter, has not yet announced an emissions reduction target, the company says it will be revealing goals in the coming weeks.

Netflix is getting to grips with its carbon footprint thanks to a new online tool called DIMPACT. Developed by a team at the University of Bristol, it is being partly funded by the streaming giant and other industry participants like the BBC, Sky and ITV.

Using the data, Netflix has revealed some stats on its emissions for the first time. The company says that one hour of streaming uses less than 100g CO2 equivalent (emissions from all greenhouse gases, not just CO2). Wired reports that this is similar to driving a car for a quarter of a mile, or running a 1,000-watt air-conditioning unit for 15 minutes in the US (and for 40 minutes in Europe). 

But with more than 203 million people now subscribed to Netflix, it’s hardly insignificant.

In the past, reports of Netflix streaming emissions have been inflated. A flawed 2019 study by a French think-tank suggested that a half-hour of Netflix accounted for 1.6kg of CO2, the same as driving nearly four miles. Analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and World Economic Forum (WEF) found the figure had been exaggerated by up to 90 times.As you settle in for a sixth consecutive episode of Bridgerton, Schitt’s Creek or Unsolved Mysteries, have you dared consider what all this unadulterated, carefree streaming is doing to the planet?

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector makes up about 4 per cent of global electricity consumption, and 1.4 per cent of global carbon emissions. (Transportation accounts for 14 per cent and the agricultural sector is 24 per cent, for comparison.) But to keep global heating well below 2C compared to pre-industrial levels, as set out by the Paris Agreement, it’s going to be incumbent on all industries to pull their weight.