Seeing the light of being carbon neutral
11-6-2008 | Other news
Rabobank will be carbon neutral. For 2007, the internal, direct carbon footprint of the Rabobank Group was calculated and will be compensated this summer. Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Bart Jan Krouwel, discusses what is being done to decrease Rabobank’s direct impact on the environment.
In the Netherlands, Rabobank is using 70 million euros a year for electricity, heating, lighting, as well as leased and business car mileage. Reducing this by 10% will save 7 million euros and decrease our impact on the environment.
Rabobank uses 100% green energy in the Netherlands, so we are already doing something to have fewer emissions. For the emissions we do put out, we are buying carbon credits to compensate.
Is that the way to move forward? In my opinion, no.
Of course, buying carbon credits to compensate our emissions is a good thing. Still, buying compensation for our environmental impact is dealing with the consequences, not solving them or avoiding them.
Carbon credits are a cost point for the bank. Buying carbon credits costs a lot of money. If we reduce our emissions, we have to buy fewer credits, then we are saving money.
We are developing programs and incentives to reduce emissions, save energy and to involve and encourage employees in the process of reducing energy consumption.
What can you do today to lighten the corporate carbon footprint? It is easy to start. Look around, do I need this lamp? Do I need to have the computer on? Etc.
Every morning I come to work and a lot of lights are on in the meeting rooms and in the halls. Nobody is here. Again, late in the evening, there is nobody here. Why are we using this energy? The world now has all kinds of technology which can react to heat, movement and turn the lights on and off. Why don’t we have that?
A lot of people come into the working space and automatically turn on the light and the computer. Why do you need that light? Is your computer on all day?
I want to raise awareness. I would like to show that you can still be alive and survive without having the computer on all day.
Take your own responsibility. Start today. Just turn off the light.
Bart Jan Krouwel
Head of Corporate Social Responsibility