Employees and associates of ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) participated in the Volkswagen Group’s #Project1Hour under the motto ‘My step to zero’. #Project1Hour is an initiative through which the Group’s entire global workforce was invited to reflect on how they can contribute to improving their ecological footprint and share how they are protecting the environment in a one-hour workshop. The initiative also focused on an individual’s responsibility towards climate change.
5000 employees in India and an equal number of employees across various dealerships in the country participated in #Project1Hour. The employees took out one hour from their workday to discuss the carbon footprint in their personal and professional life and design measures to reduce or mitigate it. The workshop received several individual suggestions on what the employees would be doing to ensure a lower carbon footprint. These included changing personal consumption patterns and making them more responsible by not buying things unnecessarily, taking up responsible waste segregation and promoting the use of green energy, among others.
ŠAVWIPL as a group is working on ambitious sustainability goals under its ‘GreenFuture’ strategy, which is based on the three pillars of ‘GreenProduct’, ‘GreenRetail’ and ‘GreenFactory’. These are three cornerstones where the group is trying to develop products which are carbon neutral by using sustainable materials and ensuring low emissions. The company has very aggressive targets to become carbon neutral in production by 2025.
This is being done in a very structured manner worldwide and in India particularly. The company is gradually moving towards green energy for its manufacturing facilities. It has already commissioned an 8.5 MW of green power capacity last year and will be adding another 10 MW this year. Almost 25 -30% of the company’s energy requirements will be met by green energy. The company has zero-waste, water-positive plant and zero-liquid discharge plant and has thriving biodiversity at its plant, which further reflects on its sustainability goals.
Commenting on the global initiative Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India said
“Climate change is disrupting the global balance of the climate. The transportation sector accounts for almost 14% of CO2 emission and the Volkswagen group is responsible for 1% of this emission. As an international car manufacturer, we are extremely aware of our responsibility towards the climate and the environment. All of us at ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India have actively participated in the Volkswagen Group’s #Project1Hour initiative to reinforce our commitment towards a greener planet by summarizing our personal and professional goals for a responsible and sustainable use of natural resources.”
“The aim of this initiative is to encourage employees to commit to sustainability and climate protection on an individual basis. On my own part I have initiated certain measures for reducing my personal CO2 footprint such as use of motorcycle instead of car on weekends, switching off AC / maintaining optimum temperature, reducing the use of plastic and promoting and participating in tree plantations.”
he added.
Sanjay Khare, Board of Director and Vice President Sustainability, Safety & Environment, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India said
“On this special day all our employees came together and brainstormed on what they can do to make this world better and less warm by ensuring that the emissions can be limited in a meaningful manner. At ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited (ŠAVWIPL), we have ensured manufacturing in a very responsible way without causing any impact on the environment in what is called a zero-impact factory and are immensely proud to have received two most important certifications in the field of sustainability within a span of six months. We are constantly striving to reduce, renew, recycle and replenish as many resources in our operations to retain a positive impact towards the environment.”
Adding to its exhaustive list of sustainability milestones, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited (ŠAVWIPL) recently earned the distinguished ‘Net Water Positive’ certification by DQS India Pvt. Ltd. This certification is the second sustainability win for SAVWIPL post the ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ certification awarded last year by TUV Nord. ŠAVWIPL has been certified as meeting the GOLD standard for their sustained initiatives towards water conservation and replenishment activities across its manufacturing operations.
Highlights
10,000 including 5,000 ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India employees and another 5,000 across various dealerships in the country participated in #Project1Hour on World Earth Day
The initiative is part of the Volkswagen Group’s #Project1Hour under the motto ‘My step to zero’
The discussions resulted in several individual suggestions to ensure a lower carbon footprint by employees in personal and professional life
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