An environmental target to reduce company emissions by 25 per cent by 2025 was met by News Corp Australia in half the time expected.
The science-based target, which aligned with the international efforts to limit global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius, was a decade-long goal set from 2015 but achieved within five years.
This enabled the company to set more ambitious targets and make deeper cuts to emissions.
The target was met by implementing practical changes to the business including replacing light bulbs with LEDs at print sites and powering down computers overnight.
There were also shifts in purchased energy emissions and the use of fuels and refrigerants.
News Corp’s sustainability program, 1 Degree, played a key role in creating actions that could minimise the business’s environmental impact and inspire others to take action.
Employees were encouraged to make small changes to help reduce their carbon footprint, with zero waste goals implemented to reduce materials going to landfill.
At the same time, newsprint publication paper was sourced from sustainably certified mills.
Between FY17 and FY18, emissions across the business were reduced by 7 per cent, supercharging the race towards the 25 per cent target.
This was attributed to decreases in emissions from purchased energy, onsite fuels, and refrigerants.
Reductions achieved were the equivalent of taking 1825 cars off the road in one year.
It was the second year running that emissions had been slashed by 7 per cent, which in 2017 was a reduction of more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2.
In 2018, environment manager at News Corp Australia Jonathon Collins said the 1 Degree program had delivered a “principled approach to environmental sustainability”.
“It engages with all areas of the business to ensure we maintain our leadership in the areas of carbon reduction, energy efficiency, waste reduction, product stewardship and other key areas for environmental improvement,” he said.
“We are always looking for smarter and more efficient ways to make our operations, supply chain and our products more sustainable, and our staff ideas and actions will be key to continue achieving this.”