Data and Trends

Pearson has been collecting and reporting on its environmental impact since 2002. In 2007 we adopted a new environmental baseline and we now report progress against this baseline.  Environmental data for previous years can be found in our environmental review archive.

We report here on our like for like performance for the period 2007 to 2009. We also report our absolute environmental impact for 2009 which includes new business acquisitions and Interactive Data Corporation which do not form part of our climate neutral commitment. We report on 100% of our environmental impact.

Reporting Measures

Measure Units 2007 2009 2010 2011
Net internal area of reporting offices / locations covered m2 1,200,624 1,360,151 1,443,347 1,262,440
Full-time employees (FTE) covered FTE 31,622 37,164 35,978 41,520

Energy Consumption

Measure Units 2007 2009 2010 2011
Total Electricity Consumption (including from renewable sources) MWh / year 223,093 258,114 204,438 198,190
Total Electricity Consumption from renewable sources only MWh / year 2,594 170,229 170,712 166,896
Total Gas Consumption MWh / year 89,251 122,153 78,742 72,884
Total Fuel Oil Consumption MWh / year 3,099 7,033 6,533 3,517
Total Energy Consumption MWh / year 315,444 385,836 289,714 269,391
Total Energy Consumption/ space occupied KWh / m2/year 263 284 201 213

Business Travel

Measure Units 2007 2009 2010 2011
Air Passenger km 231,924,032 184,829,576 219,056,753 242,830,349
Rail Passenger km 2,282,245 11,434,758 3,833,674 3,924,710
Road (distance) Vehicle km 91,738,237 20,428,719 9,930,039 7,284,921
Road (fuel use) Litres fuel 400,000 6,256,692 6,336,425 5,815,052
Total GHG from Business Travel Tonnes CO2e 51,343 41,733 48,007 28,719
Total GHG from Business Travel by FTE Tonnes CO2e / FTE 1.62 1.12 1.33 0.82

We collect and report business travel air data where there is a centralised agency in the US, the UK, Australia, India, Mexico, Singapore and Hong Kong which together account for around 80% of total full-time employees.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  Units 2009 2010 2011
Direct (Scope 1) Tonnes CO2e 44,649 35,739 35,806
Indirect (Scope 2) Tonnes CO2e 130,395 122,189 114,730
Other(Scope 3) Tonnes CO2e 4,375 3,523 5,276
Business Travel (Scope 3) Tonnes CO2e 30,887 33,913 28,719
Total Tonnes CO2e 210,306 195,364 184,531

In the table above, we report our greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Paper

We prepare a separate report on the paper we purchase for use in our books, newspapers and magazines

Waste

Measure Units 2007 2009 2010 2011
Total Waste to Landfill Tonnes / year 3,100 5,508 3,834 9,097
Total Waste to Landfill / FTE kg / FTE / year 98 148 107 221

Water

Measure Units 2009 2010 2011
Total Water Consumption m3 / year 832,685 604,822 528,873
Total Water Consumption / FTE m3 / FTE/ year 22 17 13

 

Legal Compliance

Measure 2008 2009 2010 2011
Reported Environmental Prosecutions Nil Nil Nil Nil