Engaging others

Climate change affects us all. It requires leadership and vision to address and we all have a role to play. As most of our people work in offices, call or test centres or in warehouses, Pearson has a relatively small environmental footprint. However, we can have a much more significant impact through informing, engaging and inspiring the thousands of people who work for us and with us, and the millions who read our newspapers and books every day.

Our company values are to be brave, imaginative and decent. Our concern for the environment reflects those values and we want to provide opportunities for employees to get involved in our plans as they develop:

  • Planet Pearson became available globally in Q1 2011. Planet Pearson is a way for Pearson people to share ideas, thoughts and to collaborate wherever they are in the world. The space provides ideas for carbon reduction, links to local green groups and performance reports.
  • We now have 40 Green Teams in place in Pearson most based in buildings in the UK and the US with country-wide teams in Canada, Australia, South Africa & India.

Climate change matters to our businesses. Our operating companies continue to respond to the climate neutral challenge by developing partnerships that both generate offsets but also engage people in the issue. Partnerships include:

  • Penguin Classics has helped to promote the Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees campaign in the US with marketing, publicity, and in-store promotions that increase public awareness and participation. So far, the programme has helped plant over 11 million trees in Brazil, and every dollar donated to the conservancy will put another tree in the ground.
  • Penguin in the UK helped the Woodland Trust to create a new wood in the heart of the National Forest. The 96 acre Penguin Wood at Botany Bay is ten miles south of Burton-on-Trent.
  • The Financial Times has partnered with Children’s Tropical Forests UK to purchase and protect rainforest in Costa Rica. The FT Rainforest provides opportunities for readers and staff to get involved to help protect 100 hectares of rainforest, the equivalent of 161 football pitches or 60,000 trees protecting 30,000 metric tonnes of carbon in perpetuity.
  • Pearson in the UK has partnered with the Woodland Trust on the Seeds to Trees campaign. During 2011, around 2,000 primary schools from all over the UK will receive seed kits containing everything a class of 30 children will need to sow silver birch seeds and care for them before planting them out later in the year. We expect 120,000 children across the UK to be involved in the two-year partnership. Pearson UK worked closely with the Woodland Trust on developing and distributing the education materials.

Climate neutrality: our global offset partnerships

Whatever emissions we are not able to reduce or avoid are offset by supporting a range of projects that either save or absorb a tonne of carbon for each tonne that we emit. Our climate footprint as at the end of 2011 was 184,531 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2e) and of that Pearson offset 63,133 metric tonnes to maintain our commitment to climate neutrality. We did this through extending our partnerships with the Children's Tropical Forests UK, the Nature Conservancy Council and the Woodland Trust to include offset purchase.

  • We helped the Woodland Trust launch Woodland Carbon in the UK. Woodland Carbon was the first scheme to meet the UK’s new voluntary standard for woodland creation projects which sequester carbon. Our funding has contributed to the creation of over 11 hectares of new native woodland in Cumbria.
  • Through the Nature Conservancy Council we invested in offsets sourced from the Clinch Valley in south-western Virginia. The Clinch, Powell and Holston rivers, the last free-flowing tributaries of the Tennessee River system run through the area and are home to the highest concentration of globally rare and imperilled fish and freshwater mussels.
  • The Children’s Tropical Forests UK is our primary offset partner. We have agreed to purchase and protect rainforest in Colombia sufficient to offset the remainder.

Climate neutrality: role of our books, magazines and newspapers

Our books, magazines and newspapers continue to cover climate change as an issue and have developed some innovative ways to provoke debate and inspire action.

  • " The FT newspaper has a long tradition of reporting on environmental and energy related topics. During 2011, special reports included investigations on business and the environment; green innovation and design; innovation in energy; waste and water management as well as managing climate change.
  • Penguin publishes a range of books with an environmental theme including The Rough Guide to Climate Change and Green, Greener, Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life. More information on Green Penguin activity and books can be found on the UK and US environment websites for Penguin.
  • Penguin Group in South Africa published Going Green – 365 Ways to Change Our World. Copies of this were circulated to members of the Pearson Executive Environment Committee and others. Green tips can be registered on the Penguin Group website for South Africa.