When a chief sustainability officer leaves a Fortune 100 company to join a nonprofit focused on script consulting, it signals something about where the climate fight is heading. Emma Stewart, Netflix’s first CSO, has announced she will depart the streaming giant to become a senior leader at Climate Spring, a social enterprise that works with filmmakers to weave climate themes into mainstream entertainment. The move underscores a growing recognition that cutting operational emissions is only half the battle—shifting cultural narratives may be just as urgent.
Stewart joined Netflix in 2020 after a long career in corporate sustainability consulting, and her tenure was defined by a dual mandate: reduce the company’s carbon footprint and expand its library of climate-conscious content. On the operational side, Netflix has committed to cutting Scope 3 emissions intensity by 55 percent between 2019 and 2030. Its latest sustainability report, released in June, shows progress of 14 percent—a figure the company describes as on track. Scope 3 emissions, which include the diesel generators and transport used on production sets, account for more than 95 percent of Netflix’s total footprint, roughly 1 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. That makes the production supply chain the most consequential lever for decarbonization, and one that is notoriously difficult to control.
Yet Stewart’s departure to Climate Spring suggests that even a world-class emissions reduction program may not be enough. In her LinkedIn post, she noted that during her time at Netflix she advised on hundreds of film and television scripts and grew the company’s Sustainability Stories Collection to more than 200 titles in 190 countries. This work was not ancillary to her CSO role; it was central. The logic is clear: a streaming platform’s most powerful climate lever is not the energy it buys, but the stories it tells. By embedding climate themes into crime dramas, thrillers and romantic comedies, Netflix can normalize the reality of a warming world for billions of viewers who would never read an IPCC report.
Climate Spring, Stewart’s new home, operates at the intersection of culture and climate. The organization offers training for writers, funds early-stage development of climate-informed projects and consults on the environmental elements of film and TV content. It is currently involved in more than 60 projects across genres, from thriller to rom-com. This is not niche activism; it is a strategic bet that narrative influence can accelerate policy and consumer behavior change faster than any corporate sustainability report. For energy and environment professionals, the implication is clear: decarbonization is not just an engineering challenge or a regulatory compliance exercise. It is a cultural one.
Stewart’s move also raises questions about the pipeline of talent in corporate sustainability. As more executives recognize that media and messaging are critical tools, the traditional CSO role may need to evolve—or split. Some companies may need a chief decarbonization officer focused on supply chain and energy procurement, and a separate role dedicated to storytelling and public influence. Netflix’s loss is Climate Spring’s gain, but the broader industry should take note: the most effective climate strategies will be those that operate on both fronts, balancing hard metrics with soft power. Read the full report at Trellis.