As we celebrate Earth Day this week, we hear from Sandra Latner, Pearson’s VP of Sustainability, on the action we’re taking towards a healthier, more sustainable future for our world.
Key takeaways:
- Planet: We’re making good progress on our commitment to halve emissions by 2030.
- Products: We’re creating and accrediting more climate-related content for businesses and schools.
- People: We’re helping employees gain knowledge and act on climate change, and helping our communities through volunteer opportunities.
As the world’s leading learning company, creating a more sustainable world is a natural part of everything we do. When we help people gain knowledge and skills, we inherently improve our planet and communities, too. This includes providing products and services with a smaller carbon footprint and skills-based volunteer opportunities for our employees to develop new talents.
At Pearson, we recognise that climate change is a pressing issue, and we have a distinctive role to play in ensuring a healthy future for generations to come. We are proud of the progress we are making against our three sustainability pillars: Planet, Products, and People.
Planet
Carbon matters
We are making good progress on our commitment to halve emissions by 2030. Last year, we achieved a 16% reduction in emissions over the year before. We’re doing this by:
- Going digital: as we transition from one of the world’s largest print publishers to a digital-first organisation, we’re reducing our paper use by using digital alternatives.
- Using more renewable energy: we’ve advanced our Climate Action Plan by using 100% renewable electricity consumption in our buildings.
- Optimising products and operations: we’re embedding sustainability principles into our operations and how we develop new digital products and services.
- Engaging with our suppliers: since most of our emissions come from our supply chain, we are working closely with suppliers to jointly reduce emissions.
- Governance: the board has ultimate oversight of our climate change strategy. We use verified data to communicate progress against climate-related issues.
Products
Climate content matters
Learning itself is the greatest force for change in our world, and we think educating people on the challenges that face our planet is key. So, we’re partnering with corporate customers to help them solve big global challenges and meet the demands of a green economy.
We provide learning for sustainability courses and credentials, because we recognise the crucial role business plays in contributing to sustainable goals. This includes accrediting thousands of accounting professionals worldwide with the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential ® we created in partnership with the IFRS Foundation.
We also work with UK schools to help shape a future generation of sustainably minded, global citizens through a Sustainability and Climate Change route in our Extended Project Qualification.
As we expand our efforts to create and accredit sustainability learning content, we’re giving people the confidence, values, knowledge, attitudes, and skills to build a socially just, climate conscious, and equitable future.
People
Community matters
We want our employees to be switched on about climate change. After all, it will take all of us, working together, to achieve our ambitious sustainability targets. We recently launched a ‘Climate Change Ally’ course, to help our people understand environmental challenges and take positive action. Employees receive a Credly badge at the end, so that they can demonstrate their commitment to creating a more sustainable future.
This month, we’re also celebrating Global Volunteering Month — a chance for colleagues to give back to our local communities and our planet. Eligible Pearson employees can take up to five days a year of paid leave to volunteer. Last year alone, we clocked up 22,000 hours of volunteering across 55 causes.
At Pearson, were taking bold action to improve our environmental footprint, upskill our employees, give back to our communities, and of course do what we inherently do best: help the world learn, so that together we can have real-life impact on the future of our planet.
Read more about Pearson’s Sustainability commitments.