The world’s leading companies are increasingly turning to green training and education in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, a report by the influential Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reveals.
The
CDP’s 2011 Global 500, an annual report that examines
carbon reduction activities at the world’s largest public corporations, found behaviour change, including the
training and education of staff, was among the top three most popular measures, with almost a quarter of the Global 500 undertaking such activities in their efforts to cut emissions. The report, '
Accelerating Low Carbon Growth’, released today, also found a majority (72 per cent) of companies were rewarding employees through incentives linked to climate change.
The report analysed the disclosures of 396 of the world’s largest companies and found 22 per cent cited behaviour change as one of the methods in which they were engaging to reduce emissions, just behind carbon energy installations (23 per cent).
Energy efficiency measures, such as making
buildings greener, was the by the far the most popular activity, with 94 per cent of respondents saying they were engaged in it.
Green training
Most behaviour change activity is in the form of
training and education of staff in appropriate behaviours such as low carbon commuting and maximising energy efficiency of
IT stations, the report said.
Global financial services company UBS, provided green training and awareness raising to 10,000 employees in 2010.
"By providing incentives, education and awareness on environmental matters to employees and suppliers, we encourage people to make the right choices and promote sustainable behaviour both at work and in their domestic situations," the company was quoted as saying in the report.
Professional services company PwC, which carried out the Global 500 research on behalf of CDP, suggested that the popularity of green training and awareness raising measures may relate to their short payback periods, with 60 per cent of behavioural change activities having a payback period of less than one year.
Green incentives
In a further sign of a more active commitment in advancing greater management of carbon, the number of Global 500 companies turning to monetary incentives to reward employees jumped to 65 per cent in 2011 from 49 per cent in 2010.
Commenting on the rise, Alan McGill, partner PwC sustainability and climate change, said: "Companies are linking action on climate change to their employees’ work and wallets, from the board room to the office floor. It’s a shift we could not have imagined 15 years ago."
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