Leading the Way in Reducing Emissions for PGGM
The Situation
PGGM is one of the largest pension funds in the Netherlands and advises on pension funds and their financing. They are leading the way when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions and making their organisation more sustainable. They started working with Anthesis, previously Climate Neutral Group, at an early stage in order to achieve their sustainability goals.
Green ambitions
PGGM believes in sustainability; a good pension is more than just money.
Sustainability is in PGGM’s DNA. They believe that it is not possible to work towards a sustainable future without respect for people, the environment and society.
In order to realise its green ambitions, the company has taken various steps towards becoming a climate-neutral business. To do so, they have used some of our services: calculating their CO2 footprint, using CO2 Management, doing a GreenScan and investing in our offsetting projects. In 2012 they implemented a sustainability policy and formulated concrete goals. There was a lot of attention paid to internal communication in order to convince all employees of the need to become more sustainable.
Insight
The organisation wanted to get insight into its own CO2 emissions as a first step on the path towards improvement – a smaller CO2 footprint. PGGM has more than 1300 employees who drive to and from work each day. PGGM was the first organisation in the Netherlands to have a GreenScan done, a scan that shows where potential CO2 savings exist. On the basis of this scan, recommendations were made for a more sustainable travel policy. The energy use of the building and paper consumption were also measured. CO2 Management was used for this.
Reduction
PGGM’s full CO2 emissions were calculated and clearly shown with the CO2 Management tool. The tool clearly showed where the largest sources of the organisation’s CO2 emissions were. The insight that the CO2 Management tool offers allowed PGGM to introduce and monitor reduction measures.
Mobility
Some of PGGM’s employees travel for business by car, train, and air. Car use and air travel accounted for the greatest share of the CO2 emissions. A project was started that encouraged employees to drive electric vehicles, and a shared electric car was offered. The CO2 footprint for car use was reduced by 38%, and that for flying by 25%.
Energy & business
The use of paper within PGGM also had a surprisingly big impact on the CO2 footprint. An internal project was started to reduce paper use. This quickly resulted in an 18% reduction.
The measures that were taken and the clear rise in awareness among employees have led to a 21% reduction in CO2 emissions in one year. This was a significant drop: from 7,963 tonnes in 2012 to 6,264 tonnes in 2013.
Offsetting
The remaining CO2 emissions were offset by investing in a Gold Standard project via CNG. PGGM has chosen the Paradigm Project: wood stoves in Kenya. In addition to the benefits for the climate, this project also contributes to helping the local people.
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