O2 launches three-year plan to cut CO2 by 4 million tonnes
08.02.2012
O2 in the UK has launched a new three-year sustainability plan that aims to deliver up to 4 million tonnes of carbon savings, help equip a million young people with new skills and save the country's National Health Service £50m.
The ‘Think Big Blueprint’ plan is made up of three key goals and 40 individual commitments.
The first of the three objectives is to deliver carbon reductions for customers that are ten times greater than the impact of O2’s network. This pledge is supported by 23 commitments, which include no longer providing chargers as standard with new phones, and promising to ensure all major suppliers take measures to reduce their impact on the environment and increase their community contribution.
Secondly, the company said it wants to help ten million people live in easier and more sustainable ways through its products and services, a pledge that is underpinned by 12 individual commitments, including a promise to save the NHS over one million hours of healthcare staff time, which is equivalent to £50m of savings; a commitment to save 350,000 UK households over 300,000 tonnes of carbon; and flexible working solutions to save UK businesses 160,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
The final aim of the plan is to help one million young people develop skills for life and lead community projects across the UK. This pledge involves five individual commitments, including a promise to help over 600,000 young people develop skills through local community initiatives; funding to support 5,000 young people to lead community projects; and the creation of 4,000 high quality work experience opportunities.
“A truly sustainable future, in an environmental, social and economic sense, requires businesses, like ours, to take bold steps to tackle our shared social and environmental challenges,” said Ronan Dunne, O2’s chief executive.
“As a leading provider of digital services with in excess of 22 million customers, we are uniquely positioned to use the scale of our business and our understanding of technology, to make sustainable living a reality," he said.
“This blueprint is not simply a ‘nice to have’. In an era of heightened economic and social concern, it’s an essential part of our long term business strategy that will enable us to unlock sustainable growth and encourage positive environmental change.”
According to O2, the plan was drafted after a year-long consultation process, overseen by independent non-profit organisation Forum for the Future, and involved employees, consumers, suppliers, as well as leading charities and NGOs. Forum for the Future will continue to work with O2 to monitor, evaluate and report back on progress against each of the 40 commitments in the plan.
“Even in such difficult times, with austerity the order of the day, sustainability keeps on delivering real benefits for customers, communities and shareholders – and we very much look forward to pushing on with those initiatives that are already proving themselves to be game-changers,” said Forum for the Future founder director, Jonathon Porritt.