These and similar questions have been addressed in recent years by a variety of European studies. A new report from the Shaping the Future of News Publishing (SFN) project of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) provides a clear overview of these projects and their results.

The report, “Carbon Footprint of News Publishing,” shows that, from an environmental point of view, there is no reason to reject the printed newspaper in favor of an electronic version. Depending on the reading habits and length of reading time, the printed newspaper in many cases beats online and mobile platforms, in terms of CO2 production.

This is an argument that has great relevance today, when print is under attack as a ‘deadwood’, tree-killing industry. A French retail food chain cited environmental reasons for its decision to stop using printed advertising. A Danish non-governmental organisation produced a list of measures that every citizen could take to protect the environment. One of these was: “Cancel your newspaper subscription.”

European forests are, in fact, growing, not shrinking: they’ve increased by 30 percent since 1950. This means that, every year, European forests grow by an area corresponding to 1.5 million football pitches, or four times the size of London.

The report, released during the World Publishing Expo in Frankfurt, Germany, also shows that the amount of energy required to produce newsprint is less than for all other types of paper used in publishing, and that the base material for a large share of newsprint is recycled waste paper.

The report, edited by Malin Picha on behalf of WAN-IFRA, summarizes the methodology and findings and six research studies by Finnish and Swedish research organizations, institutes and industry bodies and includes conclusions based on the findings, and recommendations for further reading and reference.

The subjects of the studies include “Environmental impacts of print products – from cradle to grave”, “Environmental impact of print versus digital”, “An overview of existing sustainability reports – the results,” “The environmental impact of editorial work”, “Environmental impact from editorial work at magazines”, and “Additional measures to take: reducing environmental impact by teleconferencing”.

The report (in English) is available as a pdf download, free to members of WAN-IFRA, and for sale to non-members. Full details can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/carbon_footprint

Information about the full benefits of WAN-IFRA membership can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/membership

Follow the events at the World Publishing Expo on the events blog at http://blog.wan-ifra.org/blogs/world-publishing-expo-2012-blog or on Twitter with #wpe12

WAN-IFRA is a leading provider of industry research and analysis. Its SFN project identifies, analyses and publicises all important breakthroughs and opportunities that can benefit newspapers and news publishers all over the world. SFN provides WAN-IFRA members with strategy reports on these developments, summaries of conference presentations, and a wealth of other vital information for all those who need to follow press industry trends. For information on membership in WAN-IFRA, please contact Birke Becker, Director of Membership, at membership@wan-ifra.org

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Learn more about WAN-IFRA at http://www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine at http://www.wan-ifra.org/magazine

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Deputy CEO and Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 07. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org