Annual report and accounts 2008Annual report and accounts 2008

Progress and Plans
Sustainable business practice


Target 2008   Progress   Plan 2009
Expand our individual company environmental committees into our US and other businesses, directly involvingmanymore of our people. ongoing Ongoing. Over 30 Green Teams now in place in Pearson facilities in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and India. Continue to expand our network of environmental teams across our businesses.
Continue our environmental and labour standards auditing programme, revisiting our printers in Asia, North America and parts of Europe. Achieved Achieved. Visits carried out in Australia, China, India, Japan, Mexico and in several European countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain and Slovakia. Hold training refresher seminars with key Pearson production departments on labour standards and environmental issues.
Continue the process of becoming a climate neutral company with a view to completing that process globally by the end of 2009. ongoing Ongoing. Highlights include:
Reduced energy usage froma global investment programme in lighting upgrades and server virtualisation;
Partnered The Nature Conservancy on its 'Plant a Billion Trees' programme. 1.5million planted to date;
Established funds in the UK and the US to stimulate innovative carbon saving programmes;
Implemented a new policy in the UK to place a carbon cap on vehicle types and in the US introduced first hybrid vehicles into our car fleet.		 Continue the process of becoming a climate neutral company with a view to completing that process globally by the end of 2009, including:
Extend Planet Pearson, a new website designed by Pearson staff in the US, to be available internationally;
Continue programme to ensure our key buildings are energy efficient;
FT newspaper to assess feasibility of setting up its own offset programme;
Purchase 'green' energy where available and affordable.
Audit the social and environmental policies and impact of companies acquired in 2007 and set out plans to integrate them into Pearson’s framework for corporate responsibility. Achieved Achieved. Harcourt and other businesses now integrated into Pearson framework for reporting on labour standards and environmental matters. Continue to work with industry partners to establish a methodology to assess the carbon footprint of a book.
Maintain our position in the key indices of social responsibility. Achieved Achieved. Pearson retained its position as Global Leader for the Media Sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and maintained its Platinum rating in the Business in the Community Responsibility Index. Maintain our position in the key indices of social responsibility.