Sustainability

ITI's commitment to working sustainably.

In July 2021 ITI signed up to the Charter for Climate Action.

In doing so, alongside 45 of the UK's leading professional institutions, ITI highlighted its commitment to supporting members in prioritising both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement in our work.

The Charter requires three commitments from professional bodies. Firstly a pledge to chart a path to help their members deliver sustainability across their organisation or business, and a promise to report on and share resources. Secondly it commits institutions to speaking with a unified voice in discussions with other bodies, the government, and the public in support of wider climate action.

And finally, institutions signing up to the Charter have pledged to empower and inspire their members to drive sustainable growth, by providing continuous professional development tools, principles, and resources that help enable the adoption of environmental best practices. Read more about the Climate Action Charter.

ITI has taken measures to support our members to be more environmentally sustainable in their own business and a wide range of resources are available in the members' only area of the website.

Other resources of interest:

Environmental sustainability in translation and interpreting

As part of our Coffee House series of discussions, we ran a session exploring the ethics surrounding environmental sustainability in translation and interpreting.

Key themes emerging from the group discussions

Responsibility for environmental harms

The discussions highlighted the complexity of attributing responsibility for the environmental impact of neural machine translation (NMT) and large language models (LLMs):

  • There was a consensus that responsibility should be shared among various stakeholders, but determining the extent of each party's responsibility is challenging.
  • Some participants suggested that those profiting most from these technologies should bear greater responsibility.
  • The role of large tech companies in presenting these tools as harmless was criticised.
  • Freelancers and translation agencies were seen as being in a difficult position, often pressured to use AI due to client demands.
Awareness and education

Participants noted varying levels of awareness about the ecological impact of AI technologies in the translation and interpreting industry:

  • There was a general feeling that awareness is improving but not yet widespread.
  • The need for increased education was emphasised, not just for professionals but also for translation and interpreting trainees.
  • Suggestions were made to engage with mainstream media to raise awareness beyond the industry.
  • The importance of educating clients about the environmental costs of AI was highlighted, though some noted the potential challenges in doing so.
Moving from awareness to action

Several ideas were proposed for transitioning from awareness to concrete actions:

  • Professional associations like ITI were seen as having a crucial role in facilitating this transition.
  • Suggestions included providing resources for members, such as fact sheets and templates for action plans.
  • The idea of developing a formal charter for freelancers was mentioned.
  • Some participants advocated for lobbying governments for AI regulation.
  • Creating groups to monitor AI-translated content and lodge complaints was proposed.
Promoting environmental sustainability

Discussions touched on various ways the translation and interpreting industry impacts the environment beyond AI use:

  • The environmental footprint of home office setups was noted, including energy use and digital footprints.
  • International travel for interpreting assignments was identified as a significant factor.
  • Participants suggested actions such as digital decluttering, using ethical banks, and switching to sustainable energy providers.
  • The role of professional associations in promoting sustainability was emphasised, including leading by example and publicising their own environmental targets.
Recommendations and next steps
  1. Collate information about the environmental impact of AI technologies in translation and interpreting, to be shared with members and clients.
  2. Create resources to help members communicate effectively with clients about the environmental costs and benefits of different translation methods.
  3. Explore partnerships with environmental experts to provide carbon literacy training for members.
  4. Consider developing an industry-wide charter or set of principles for environmental sustainability in language services.
  5. Investigate ways to engage with media and participate in broader discussions about AI and environmental sustainability.
  6. Provide practical advice for members on reducing their individual environmental impact, including office setups and digital practices.
  7. Collaborate with other professional bodies and stakeholders to advocate for environmentally responsible practices across the industry.

The next steps might involve forming working groups to develop these initiatives, conducting further research into best practices, and consulting with environmental experts to ensure the effectiveness of proposed actions.

 

ITI is also committed to becoming a more sustainable organisation; here are measures that we have taken so far.

ITI office location

ITI moved to its current location in 2011. The business centre where we are located is owned by Capital Space who are committed to sustainability, environmental and waste management. You can read more about what they are doing across all their business sites here. 

Since publishing their sustainability policy, the business centre has achieved the following (as of 2023):

  • Reduced gas consumption (feeding the central heating in our office) by 14% vs 2021.
  • The reduction of 19,000 kwh of natural gas across the site converts to an estimated reduction of 3,500kg CO2.
  • The reduction of 203,025 kwh of electricity (via use of solar panels and green energy generation).
  • Boiler temperature was reduced saving approximately 17% energy use.
  • Car park lights were recently fittedwith lower wattage bulbs, saving both energy and reducing costs.
  • 9,925 pages of paper have been removed from operations by sending documents via Docusign. In 2023 carbon emmisions were reduced by 2,947lb, 3,647 gallons of water conserved and 1,255lb of wood saved – almost double the savings compared to 2022. 

ITI office team

The ITI office team have been working hard behind the scenes to reduce the resources we use and be more sustainable wherever possible. Here is what we have achieved over the last 3 years:

  • 95% of our membership packs are now sent by email rather than by post
  • The ITI Bulletin is available to view online and almost a third of members now read the Bulletin this way rather than receive a paper copy
  • Since the pandemic ITI has adopted a hybrid approach to working which saves on average 1000 miles of staff travel by car a week
  • We are striving to make the ITI Conference more sustainable. At the 2022 conference we had no printed programme, there were no plastic water bottles and attendees are encouraged to bring refillable bottles, there were no bags with promotional materials, lanyards and badge holders were collected for use at future events and shared cars for travel
  • Only essential documents are printed in the office– since the pandemic we have seen a reduction of 90% in our printing
  • We endeavour to support local independent businesses by utilising their products and services  
  • Replacing in-person workshops with online events has significantly reduced our carbon footprint and that of participants.