09/27/2017

Bertelsmann Presents New Environmental Objectives

Subject: Environment, Media & Services
Country: International
Category: Project
Website: www.bertelsmann.de/klimabilanz, verantwortung@bertelsmann.de

A Group-wide framework for measures to protect the environment and climate has been created

As part of the ongoing development of corporate responsibility at Bertelsmann, the Corporate Responsibility Council chaired by CHRO Immanuel Hermreck, agreed on Group-wide environmental objectives for Bertelsmann at its meeting in July. "In light of the rising expectations being expressed by the businesses and society, Bertelsmann is providing a common framework for the numerous environmental protection measures at Bertelsmann companies," said Hermreck.

To support the further development of efforts to protect the climate and environment at Bertelsmann companies, medium-term objectives were set for increasing the proportion of sustainably produced paper, and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020, at least 90 percent of the paper purchased should be recycled or from a certified source. Their certification must meet the requirements of established standards such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), or equivalent. This concretizes the existing requirements of the Bertelsmann Paper Policy from 2006. In addition, by 2020 greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of electricity, heat and fuel are to be reduced by 10 percent compared to the base year of 2014. By 2025, these emissions are to be reduced by 20 percent.

Increasing Demands by Key Business Customers

With these measures, Bertelsmann supports the goal agreed at the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris, of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius. Beyond this, Bertelsmann is also meeting the increasing requirements set by key business customers, especially in its services divisions, Arvato and the Bertelsmann Printing Group.

"All Bertelsmann companies should contribute to achieving the Group-wide environmental objectives in their own interest as well," says Mark Fabisch, Corporate Responsibility & Diversity Management, who coordinates the "be green" initiative at Bertelsmann. For example, in 2010, RTL Group already set itself the target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by one-fifth by 2020. Penguin Random House also issued an environmental target, as Michael DeFazio, Vice PresidentofPaper Purchasing & ProductionPlanning at Penguin Random House in the U.S., explains. "To meet the high expectations of our authors and customers, we plan to source all of the paper used for our books from FSC-, PEFC- or SFI-certified sources by 2020," he notes. Astrid Meichercyzk, Managing Director of Prinovis Deutschland, says: "We have purchased PEFC-certified paper since 2016. Upon customer request, we print on FSC-certified paper. In dialog with our customers, we aim to ensure that, in the future, 100% of the paper provided by our customers is also from certified sources."

Group-Wide Measures

Group-wide measures are designed to support the Bertelsmann companies in setting and achieving their own targets – like the development of an IT-assisted energy data management system, the further development of environmental reporting, and the promotion of knowledge transfer across divisions. Measures that pay off both for the businesses and for environmental protection are crucial for sustainable success, says Fabisch. "By implementing focused energy-efficiency measures at Arvato CRM Solutions, we seek to reduce our energy costs, and at the same time we make an important contribution to Bertelsmann’s efforts to protect the environment and the climate," confirms Andreas Krohn, CEO Arvato Customer Solutions. Besides stepping up energy-efficiency measures such as switching to LED lighting and energy-saving equipment, or expanding the in-house generation of energy, e.g. from highly efficient combined heat and power plants and renewable energies, an increased sourcing of ecologically generated ("green") electricity can also help to reduce the carbon footprint at Bertelsmann sites.

"Science-Based Targets"

The Group-wide objectives were jointly developed by experts from the Bertelsmann "be green" environmental initiative and the Corporate Responsibility & Diversity Management department. They are based on data from the annual environmental data collection, as well as further analyses of growth forecasts, energy and paper consumption, and developments in the energy and commodity markets. The process was supported by a climate-protection study conducted with an international environmental protection organization, using "Science-Based Targets Initiative" methodology. The study identified the company's specific contribution to limiting global greenhouse gas emissions, calculated based on the company’s current emissions and the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in relevant industries by 2050.

You can check out the updated environmental data and Bertelsmann’s new environmental objectives in the Bertelsmann Carbon Footprint 2016  , which was published today.

If you have questions about corporate responsibility and environmental management at Bertelsmann, please email them to: .