There were no fingers wagging but a lot of smiles when the Danske Bank Group ran an internal energy campaign for all its employees in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in March and April. The campaign was based on the variety of bad excuses that everyone has for not turning off computer screens, PCs or the light in the restroom.
Group energy consumption must be reduced
The energy campaign marked the start of the Group’s efforts to become carbon neutral by the end of 2009. The purpose of the campaign was to increase the employees’ awareness of the correlation between energy consumption and carbon emissions and to reduce the amount of energy used when the employees hold meetings or have gone home.
Substantial reductions to be achieved
“The campaign has shown that there is great potential for reducing the Group’s energy consumption,” says Anne Søgaard Melchiorsen, Group CR Manager. "In Denmark, two Danske Markets departments challenged each other to a duel to test how much power they could save by remembering to turn off lights, computers and screens that are not being used. In three weeks, Danske Markets reduced its total energy consumption by no less than 11.7%."
Good energy habits
During the campaign, the employees could find energy-saving tips and follow a blog about the climate and energy on the Portal. The campaign also offered contests and activities intended to make good energy habits part of the employees’ everyday life.
Towards the goal
In future, the challenge will be to maintain all these good new energy habits and achieve the Group’s goal of carbon neutrality by the end of 2009. To support the employees’ great efforts, the Group has hired an energy specialist who will start on 1 June 2008. The specialist will be responsible for determining the Group’s potential for saving energy and establishing goals and action plans for energy consumption reductions.
The Group cannot solve the climate problem on its own, but with more than 23,000 employees, it can make a real difference.
Last updated/revised on August 7, 2008