The chairman and chief executive of News Limited, John Hartigan, yesterday announced that News Limited, owner of the Herald Sun, had become carbon-neutral and was on track to achieving its goal of reducing emissions by 20 per cent.
Mr Hartigan said News Limited had achieved emissions reductions of 18.4 per cent since launching its company-wide energy reduction plan, “One Degree”, in June 2007.
Efficiency measures introduced over the past three years had reduced carbon emissions by 8.4 per cent from 146,166 tonnes of carbon dioxide to 134,880 tonnes, with an additional 10 per cent reduction coming from renewable energy certificates.
“We launched One Degree setting aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions across every part of our operations,” Mr Hartigan said.
“We started with one idea and a singular commitment, identifying 179 carbon reduction projects to change how we approach every aspect of our business.
“As a result, we have cut almost 30 per cent of vehicle fleet emissions, business travel is down by 22 per cent through the use of video conferencing and we have invested in more energy-efficient equipment.”
Staff efforts across the company’s metropolitan, regional and community mastheads include recycling more, powering down computers at day’s end and turning off lights.
All measures have contributed to reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
Mr Hartigan said the One Degree initiative was proof that small changes could add up to a big difference.
“One Degree has become part of the way we do business,” said Mr Hartigan. “We are saving money by using less energy, it’s an issue our employees are interested in and it’s an issue our readers continue to want debated.”
