Disney Entertainment Awarded for Environmental Storytelling and Sustainable Production

The 2023 Environmental Media Awards (EMAs) celebrate TV shows and films that have harnessed the power of storytelling to encourage action to create a more sustainable future. At the star-studded 33rd annual award event Disney took home one of the night’s top honors.

Avatar: The Way of Water Wins Top Award 

20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water won the Environmental Media Award in the Feature Film category. Global audiences were first introduced to the world of Pandora in the original Avatar (2009) and fell in love with the characters, story, and beautiful rainforests and creatures, which led to it becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. In  Avatar: The Way of Water, audiences were transported to an all-new biome—the reef—and introduced to a new oceanic clan and an array of diverse aquatic creatures. The production’s groundbreaking underwater cinematography and incredible storytelling led it to become the third highest-grossing film of all-time while highlighting the beauty of the underwater world.  

 “The Avatar ethos is that we are all connected to each other and our planet, and therefore are responsible for positively impacting the people and world around us,” said  Avatar: The Way of Water producer Jon Landau.  

Additionally, through Disney and Avatar’s “Keep Our Oceans Amazing” campaign Disney contributed $1 million to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to protect 10 of our oceans’ amazing animals and their habitats, ultimately helping to meet TNC’s goal of protecting 10% of the world’s oceans by 2030.  

The Environmental Media Awards are presented by the Environmental Media Association (EMA), an organization dedicated to promoting environmental action and innovation through storytelling. The full list of nominees and winners is available here. 

Disney Wins Numerous Green Seal Awards 

In addition to awarding films and television shows with environmental storylines, the EMA also recognizes productions for their environmental efforts behind the scenes with the EMA Green Seal, a program honoring excellence in sustainable production. 

EMA Green Seals are awarded to productions that meet or exceed a set of sustainability criteria on a scale of 200 points. Any production that earns at least 75 points is awarded a Green Seal, and productions that achieve a score of 125 or more receive a Gold Seal.

Hulu and ABC Signature Studios’ Death and Other Details series was one of the shows awarded with an EMA Gold Seal. The production’s efforts included installing a temporary tank for renewable diesel at the show’s stages. This shift in fuel, which is made from renewable resources such as agricultural waste products, reduced CO2 emissions by up to 70% versus traditional diesel. Furthermore, the production rented electric vehicles for cast and executives, installing temporary charging stations at the sound stages. Diesel generators were replaced with battery electric generators when possible while filming on location, and the catering team provided stainless steel food containers, avoiding more than 95,000 single-use dishes, or around 5.5 tons of landfill waste.  

In total, productions from across The Walt Disney Company were awarded 68 Green Seals, and of these, 49 achieved Gold Seal status. The full list of Disney recipients can be found below. 

For more than a century, Disney has created stories that celebrate the wonders of the world we all share. These awards from the Environmental Media Association recognize the ways that the company is committed to taking meaningful and measurable action to support a healthier planet for people and wildlife, putting possibility into practice, and inspiring optimism for a brighter, cleaner, and more environmentally sustainable future – a commitment we call Disney Planet Possible. Learn more about Disney’s efforts at https://impact.disney.com/environment/. 

Disney EMA Green Seal Winners 

GOLD SEAL:

• 9-1-1
• A Haunting in Venice
• A Murder at the End of the World
• Agatha All Along
• Alaska Daily
• Alexander … Road Trip
• Alien: Romulus
• American Horror Story
• Ashoka
• Bunk’d: Learning the Ropes
• Dashing Through the Snow
• Dave
• Death and Other Details
• Dust
• Feud!: Capote vs. the Swans
• Genius: MLK/X
• Greatest Hits
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• High Potential
• High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
• In the Blink of an Eye
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Interior Chinatown
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Loki
• Mayans M.C.
• Mufasa: The Lion King
• Only Murders in the Building
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• Pretty Freekin Scary
• Reservation Dogs
• Saturdays
• Skeleton Crew
• Snowfall
• Station 19
• The Acolyte
• The Santa Clauses
• The First Omen
• The Last Thing He Told Me
• The Old Man
• The Resident
• The Sterling Affairs
• The Veil
• The Villains of Valley View
• We Were the Lucky Ones
• What We Do in the Shadows
• Will Trent 

GREEN SEAL:

• 9-1-1: Lonestar
• A Million Little Things
• A Small Light
• Big Sky
• Criminal Minds
• How I Met Your Father
• Not Dead Yet
• Raven’s Home
• Secrets of Sulphur Springs
• Single Drunk Female
• The Bear
• The Company You Keep
• The Other Black Girl
• The Wonder Years
• Tiny Beautiful Things
• True Lies
• Up Here
• Vacation Friends 2
• Washington Black