Faber's operations director Jude Gates to chair the Publishers Association’s Sustainability Taskforce

Jude Gates, operations director at Faber, has been appointed chair of the Publishers Association’s (PA) Sustainability Taskforce. She takes over from Siena Parker, former social impact director at Penguin Random House (PRH), and succeeds Helen Griggs, global director for Environment, Procurement and Supply at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

“The dedicated and thoughtful collaboration of the Publishers Association and the Sustainability Taskforce has provided both useful resources and priceless support," Gates said. "For many publishers sustainability is now an integral part of the decision making process and I am delighted to be working with the Publishers Association and the excellent and engaged members on such vital and overarching work towards the next steps.”

The Sustainability Taskforce was established in 2020, and its first industry initiative was launching the climate action pledge, known as "Publishing Declares", which has had nearly 200 signatories across the UK book and journal industry. The strategic focus of the Taskforce this year is to "empower signatories" to work towards their climate action goals through training.

The PA has also launched a range of tools like the Carbon Calculator, which allows publishers to calculate and monitor their carbon emissions, and the Materials Matrix, assessing commonly used materials according to a set of key environmental indicators.

Alice Wood, the Publishers Association’s sustainability manager, commented: “I am thrilled that Jude Gates is our new chair of the Sustainability Taskforce, following a very successful four years chaired by Helen and a valuable six months chaired by Siena Parker. Jude’s extensive knowledge of the publishing industry and the environmental sustainability challenges it faces will be highly valuable to our engaged and hard-working Taskforce.”