Making the Ö÷²¥´óÐã more sustainable
Post categories: Sustainability
| 11:18 UK time, Tuesday, 23 November 2010
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Just over two years ago the Ö÷²¥´óÐã launched a new environmental policy. Along with many other companies we sought to reduce our carbon footprint by bringing down the amount of energy and water we used, reducing the amount of waste we sent to landfill and the level of carbon emissions our travel was producing.
We are now half way through the five years we set ourselves to achieve these reductions and two things are clear. Firstly that we need to work harder to reach the targets we set ourselves and secondly that in those two years the environmental agenda has moved on significantly.
So we’re adding to our existing work and adopting a more holistic approach to sustainability. We want the Ö÷²¥´óÐã to become a more sustainable organisation across the whole range of our operations. Sustainability means different things to different people and for us it is about being a responsible steward of our natural, human and financial resources.Ìý
Embedding sustainability into everyday working is key and that is why today we are launching our new sustainability plan called The Difference.Ìý
A central plank of The Difference is that the Ö÷²¥´óÐã should lead the media industry in sustainability – creating and exemplifying industry best practice. Pat Younge, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Vision Chief Creative Officer has written about the with the independent production sector. And we are looking at ways in which our Research & Development department can help work with external suppliers to reduce the energy use of new broadcast technology such as set-top boxes.
I should also stress that this initiative isn’t about making editorial decisions based around one particular side of the environmental argument. As always our editorial decision making will be guided by due impartiality and a diversity of opinion. However, where we can reduce our own negative environmental and sustainability impacts, cut our costs and use our size and scope to make it easier for others to do the same, we believe this is in the public interest.
Among the internal initiatives we are launching as part of The Difference are changes to our buildings to ensure that we reduce the amount of water and energy we use and cut the volume of waste we send to landfill. We are rolling out improved video conferencing facilities, encouraging cab share and introducing a policy to limit flights to help reduce our travel footprint. We are introducing new technology to reduce the number of computer servers we use and avoid printing unnecessarily. Beyond the Ö÷²¥´óÐã we are also setting higher sustainability expectations from our suppliers. These and many more smaller actions will help us make the changes needed to become a more sustainable organisation. Ìý
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Finally I should say that the initiatives outlined today overall will save the Ö÷²¥´óÐã money over the course of the current licence fee period. We only approve large scale investment if we can prove that it will return money to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã over a period of time and help our target of reducing the amount we spend on running the Ö÷²¥´óÐã.
Alec McGivan is Head of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Outreach
- Press release - Ö÷²¥´óÐã launches UK's first carbon calculator for television.
- Patrick Younge, Chief Creative Officer of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Vision Productions, has also about what programme makers can do to make sustainable productions.
- Read Alec McGivan's previous blog about the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's annual Corporate Responsibility Report and the accompanying Press release.
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