News Limited

John Hartigan (chairman and chief executive) announced that News Limited has become carbon neutral and is on track to achieving its goal of reducing its emissions by 20%.

Mr Hartigan said that since launching its company‐wide energy reduction plan "One Degree" in June 2007, News Limited had achieved emissions reductions of 18.4% in FY2010 and was confident that auditing currently underway would confirm it met its 20% goal in CY2010.

Efficiency measures introduced over the past three years had reduced carbon emissions by 8.4% from 146,166 tonnes of carbon dioxide to 134,880 tonnes, with an additional 10% reduction coming from renewable energy certificates. The 20% goal is expected to be reached when figures become available for the end of 2010.

"In June 2007 we launched One Degree, setting aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions across every part of our operations," Mr Hartigan said.

"We started with one idea and a singular commitment, auditing over 85% of operations and identifying 179 carbon reduction projects to change how we approach every aspect of our business.

"As a result we have cut almost 30% of vehicle fleet emissions, business travel is down by 22% through the use of video conferencing and we have invested in more energy efficient equipment to reduce emissions from lighting, cooling and printing," Mr Hartigan said.

"One Degree is proof that small changes can add up to a big difference. Staff efforts to recycle more, power‐down their computers at the end of the day and turn off the lights have all contributed to reducing our carbon footprint.

"One Degree has become part of the way we do business, and that will continue. We are saving money by using less energy; it's an issue our employees are interested in; and it's an issue our readers continue to want debated."