Climate Savers - Preserving the Earth: JohnsonDiversey commits to WWF's rigorous climate protection program
A San Juan Diego Middle School student charts the rise in global carbon dioxide emissions during a presentation at the school by Dan Daggett, JohnsonDiversey's Manager of Corporate Environmental Sustainability.
Climate change has become a clarion call of this generation, and JohnsonDiversey is leading our industry in responding to the call. In 2008, we achieved a significant new milestone in our legacy of environmental responsibility when we signed a covenant with Climate Savers, the well-respected and rigorous greenhouse gas reduction program of the World Wildlife Fund.
We committed to a challenging, measurable reduction in our impact on the climate. We agreed to be accountable for our commitment through a third-party validation process. We promised to partner with our customers and suppliers to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In short, we made a public commitment to be leaders in addressing climate change.
"Our involvement in Climate Savers is consistent with the company's long heritage of protecting the planet for future generations," said Chairman Curt Johnson.
JohnsonDiversey was only the 18th company worldwide to meet the stringent qualifications for acceptance into Climate Savers. Climate Savers is the only program to require companies to commit to an absolute reduction in their emissions of greenhouse gases. As Climate Savers requires, we established a leadership target for emission reductions, placing JohnsonDiversey at the forefront of emissions reductions in our industry. We have committed to an absolute reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from our operations by 8 percent by 2013. We set 2003, our first full year as an integrated global business, as the benchmark year against which we'll measure our emissions reductions.
In announcing our membership in Climate Savers, Carter Roberts, President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Wildlife Fund in the United States, called it a demonstration of our industry leadership.
"JohnsonDiversey has set a new standard for addressing climate change," Roberts said. "The company is stepping into uncharted territory with an initiative that should serve as a blueprint for the entire industry. Changes in corporate practice are essential if there is to be real progress in tackling conservation challenges. As we continue our efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, innovative partnerships with companies like JohnsonDiversey will be crucial to success."
Membership in this elite program is a manifestation of JohnsonDiversey's fundamental belief that good business practices are inextricably linked with environmental stewardship. It is an opportunity to improve not only our own operations but to help define sustainability in the minds of our customers, our employees, our suppliers and our communities. It is one way that we will fulfill our purpose to transform our industry.
"Our goal is to not only practice sustainability in all we do, but also to help our customers become more sustainable in their operations," said Ed Lonergan, President and Chief Executive Officer.
San Juan Diego is the first school we adopted under our Global Children's Initiative, which supports children who live in poverty. In addition to annual projects to clean and paint the school's facilities and provide hand washing instruction to students, our employees volunteer time to teach the children about climate change.
Climate Savers represents a substantial commitment of our resources. It includes a financial commitment, and more importantly, a commitment of people and thought leadership. It links environmentally responsible business practices to individual accountability at every level of our organization. Achieving the aggressive reduction targets we set in our Climate Savers covenant will engage every employee in new thinking about the decisions we make every day. Climate Savers will give us the tools we need to make those decisions responsibly.
"What is important about Climate Savers is the change in thinking that it enables," said Jeramy LeMieux, who is leading our implementation of the program. "We can get rid of assumptions about what our energy use is, and use hard facts. When we give people solid information to make choices, they can make choices that are better for the company and better for the environment."
Simply put, kilowatts of energy represent carbon dioxide emissions. And every kilowatt of energy costs money. When we make choices that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we are making choices that use less energy.
And that means we are spending less of the company's money and making the company more successful. With that in mind, the decisions employees make every day become tangible investments in the future of our enterprise and of our planet.
"We rely on the small actions the majority of people make every day, and on the little flashes of genius that will come when people focus on how their work affects our energy use. When every person is making choices with solid information in mind, we make a difference to the company's profitability and to our impact on the planet," LeMieux said.
At the same time, we are finding ways to help our customers examine and reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. Our low-temperature laundry products save customers money and energy. Our water-management expertise helps customers reduce their water use and the associated energy costs. Concentrated products and innovative packaging have improved our transportation efficiency by 250 percent. Our award-winning, energy-efficient TASKI® equipment provides superior cleaning and maneuverability while using significantly less energy than similar machines.
We recognize that our effect on the natural environment includes not only our own activities, but also those of our partners, suppliers and customers. We believe our commitment and actions set a high bar and serve as a model for our customers and the broader business community.
"Our customers all over the world are asking us to be their partner in developing solutions to reduce their environmental impact, protect human health and safety, and improve the economic strength of their enterprises," Lonergan said.
- Use more fuel-efficient vehicles in our automobile and truck fleet worldwide
- Upgrade the energy efficiency of our buildings and operations
- Investigate alternative energy sources such as fuel cells and wind turbines
- Implement policies to reduce employee travel by upgrading our video teleconferencing capacity and Web-based collaboration tools
- Implement comprehensive plans to educate employees about the impact of their day-to-day decisions on energy use at work and at home