Our sustainability commitments
If we are to achieve a truly sustainable energy future, we need to start preparing in the present. So we've already set ourselves some ambitious targets. Our Sustainability Commitments represent one of the biggest packages of environmental initiatives launched by any major British company. We updated our commitments in 2010 following our integration with British Energy. We're still aiming to cut the intensity of the carbon emissions produced from our legacy generation plants by 60% by 2020. And we’re also now committed to delivering low-carbon nuclear responsibly – meaning we demonstrate real progress in implementing a long-term UK radioactive waste solution, being open and transparent in our business and supporting the skills necessary to sustain our nuclear business. We're signed up to promote sustainability in high profile, high impact areas – as shown by our sustainability partnership with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
At the same time, we have to ensure that, with all the investment we put into this area, we never lose sight of our customers. Making sure that everyone has access to electricity and heating is crucial and it’s a responsibility we take very seriously as we trade in the markets.
So if you join us in our work, you won’t just be part of the discussion. You’ll be an important and active part of the solution.
Our business is energy, and as energy affects everyone, what we do affects everyone too – however indirectly. We believe we all have an ethical duty to be the very best corporate citizens we can be. In fact, we see sustainability as being absolutely central to our business strategy. It’s a key part of our brand. It’s tied up in our ambitions, and it’s something we’ll measure our success on in the future. We’ve established high profile partnerships based on promoting sustainability – as the first Sustainability Partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, for example.
Sustainability is therefore not only integral to our business. It is our business. It is our strategy. And it is our future. Which means that it will be a vital dimension of your career within EDF Energy. Here are a few examples:
We are committed to tackling climate change. We are proud to belong to EDF Group, which is the lowest carbon dioxide emitter of all the large energy groups in Europe. In the UK, however, much of our power has historically come from coal and gas fired power stations. We are in the process of transforming our electricity generation portfolio with the aim of reducing its carbon intensity by nearly two-thirds. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity: we need to make major changes, but at the same time, we have the chance to make a big difference to the UK’s carbon footprint. We now own and operate eight of the ten nuclear power stations in the UK and plan to build four more new European Pressurised Reactors by 2025.
So, we are currently undertaking a major investment programme to improve our efficiency and reduce emissions. Amongst other things, we aim to:
- Reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions from our electricity production by 60% by 2020.
- Eliminate our office and depot landfill waste from 2020.
- Cut the energy we use in our workplaces by 30% by 2012.
We take our social responsibilities equally seriously. We have a responsibility to our customers – particularly our must vulnerable customers, our employees, the communities in which we work and the public at large. Our Sustainability Commitments cover public safety, energy affordability, security of supply, employee development, community investment and ethical purchasing. Among many other things, we’ve:
- pioneered social tariffs (special rates for energy offered to those considered to be ‘fuel poor’) in the UK and committed to provide a long-term social tariff through to 2012.
- committed to invest up to £315 million in energy efficiency measures over the next three years, of which £139 million will be spent on measures for priority vulnerable customers.
- developed The Pod – our sustainable schools programme which has been created in collaboration with Eco- Schools and the Eden Project. The Pod forms part of the London 2012 education programme ‘Get Set’. The project has been designed to help make schools more sustainable and educate children, parents and teachers about sustainability issues.
- pledged that by 2012, we will have attained gold standard from independent experts for our approach to diversity and inclusion. We will also have increased opportunities for our employees to develop and improve a range of skills including basic life skills.
As the UK’s leading nuclear operator we have also committed to deliver low-carbon nuclear responsibly. Our stakeholders need to feel they can trust us in the key areas of safety and security and want to know more about our long term plans for waste. So we have made a series of commitments to answer these demands. Specifically:
- We will work with Government, NGOs and others to demonstrate real progress towards implementing a long term UK radioactive waste solution.
- We will be open and transparent in our nuclear businesses and demonstrate we can be trusted to act to the highest professional standards in relation to nuclear security issues.
- We will support the development within the UK of the skills necessary to sustain our nuclear businesses by working with schools, universities and other bodies.
All in all, it’s one of the biggest packages of sustainability commitments launched by any major British company. Find out more about our Sustainability Commitments.
Commitment to the community
We play an active role in our local communities through many different community investment programmes, working in close partnership with schools, charities and other organisations. In fact, we’ve been recognised for our work in this area by Business in the Community – a membership organisation that mobilises businesses for good. Here is a quick snapshot of some of our work in this area:
The Pod – our sustainable schools programme
The Pod is an online education programme designed to help schools become more sustainable. It provides teachers and students with a simple framework for learning about green issues, running green activities and sharing their progress with others.
The Pod forms part of the London 2012 Education Programme and has been created in partnership with the Eden Project and Eco Schools. Since its launch in 2008, over 9000 schools have registered with the Pod. We’re aiming for even more, though. Through our social commitments, we’ve pledged to reach 2.5 million young people by 2012.
You can visit the Pod at www.jointhepod.org
Charity partners
We’ve formed a number of strategic partnerships with charitable organisations, all of which will help us deliver on our Sustainability Commitments, helping us to serve our customers better, inspire people towards a more sustainable lifestyle and raise essential funds for the charities’ vital work.
Our national charity partners are:
- Global Action Plan, an independent environmental charity. They aim to reduce the carbon emissions we all cause during our daily lives, which contribute to issues such as climate change.
- Paralympics GB, the charity responsible for selecting, preparing, entering, funding and managing Britain's teams at the Paralympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games.
Employee involvement
There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in our community initiatives. Through our Helping Hands volunteering programme, employees can spend two days of company time each year getting involved in community-based activities.
We also encourage everyone to support our charity partners, by matching the money raised by employees – up to the value of £100,000 for each charity.
What’s more, we’ve appointed 250 ambassadors across the company. These ambassadors are there to help everyone reduce their impact on the environment and support the communities we serve. They spend two hours each week on their ambassador activities and through our climate commitments, we’ve pledged to double the number of ambassador hours.
How will this affect me?
The above is a selection of the ways in which we endeavour to integrate sustainability into the heart of our business. As you can see, it’s a big part of what we do. As a graduate at EDF Energy you can expect to develop, take part in, or promote initiatives like this as part of your everyday working life.
Find out more about EDF Energy’s commitment to sustainability.
