The “be green” Experts

The “be green” team is an international workgroup comprising environmental experts at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and all of its corporate divisions. The task force shares ideas and experiences on environmental topics and develops Bertelsmann’s Environmental and Climate Protection Strategy.

Knowledge sharing as an engine for new insights
A responsible treatment of our environment and our natural resources is a priority at Bertelsmann. We practice a tried and tested approach to meeting the challenges of global change: an open dialog between our decentralized companies. This fuels new learning, helping us to treat our environment as well as the products and natural resources we need even better. Our operations and companies share this knowledge and valuable experiences with environmental protection activities with each other.

One important forum for doing this is the “be green” team. Since May 2003, environmental experts from all Bertelsmann company departments – environmental officers, production heads and chief paper buyers – have met regularly in this interdivisional, international task group, to discuss issues related to our ecological efforts. Best practices from the divisions and companies are presented, new developments at the international, European and German level are discussed, and strategies for more climate protection throughout the Group are jointly developed.

Enriching outside views
External guests, e.g., representatives from other companies, from NGOs or from politics, regularly enrich the debate and contribute interesting ideas from an outside viewpoint. The “be green” team has developed into one of the most active forums in the company, and into a real engine for Bertelsmann’s environmental policy.

Carbon footprint complements existing environmental policy and Bertelsmann Paper Policy
In 2009 and 2011 the “be green” Team worked with the corporate divisions to calculate Bertelsmann’s first Group-wide carbon footprint. This stocktaking sharpens our understanding of the Group’s impact on the climate and forms the starting point for a more efficient use of energy. The carbon footprint is an important element of Bertelsmann’s climate-protection strategy and complements Bertelsmann’s Environmental Policy and the Bertelsmann Paper Policy drawn up by the “be green” team for the first time in 2004 and 2005.