“It is probably the biggest challenge that mankind has ever faced,” said Tomas Brunegard, CEO of the Stampen Group in Sweden and Chairman of the Swedish Newspaper Publishers Association. “We, as newspapers, demand action from other people on this issue, and now it’s our time to take action.”

One of the themes of the Congress and Forum, which drew 1,800 newspaper publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives to Göteborg, Sweden, from 1 to 4 June, was the issue of sustainability.

Leif Johansson, CEO of AB Volvo, whose company is producing heavy trucks that run on biofuels, said newspaper delivery trucks drive 6,000 miles every night just in the city of Göteborg alone. “That’s a sizeable environmental impact and should be done in the most efficient way possible,” he said.

“Your customers, your readers, do they demand an environmentally friendly product?”, Mr Johansson asked the Congress audience. “If not now, I believe they will much more over time.”

Global warming was also on the agenda of a meeting of member organisations of the World Association of Newspapers on the sidelines of the Congress.

Directors of national newspaper associations heard presentations on the environmental impact of both print and digital media usage. Newspapers, like other businesses, are coming under pressure to reduce their energy consumption, and the directors discussed what they were doing to sensitize and support their member newspapers on the issue.

Göran Finnveden, Head of the Environmental Strategies Research Division at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, reported on a government-funded and industry supported study to investigate and evaluate the possibilities of media to contribute to sustainable development.

The study measured the environmental impact of the consumption of printed newspapers, internet-based newspapers and tablet e-paper newspapers. It considered such variables as paper use, electricity use, time spent reading on electronic devices, transport and other factors and found that e-tablets generally had the least impact . The study did not fully consider the construction and disposal impact of such devices, which could contain dangerous materials such as heavy metals.

“The climate threat is huge, and society must change,” said Dr Finnveden. “Technological development is not enough. We also need to change the demands for energy and transport. There is pressure on all sectors of society to try to reduce and mitigate the impact.”

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.