How did you use the extra day of 2024? 26 Volkswagen Group UK Ltd. (VWG) employees used the Leap Day time bonus to make a commitment to the planet by undertaking the Carbon Literacy Trust’s training course. This brings to 75 the total number of VWG employees who are now certified Carbon Literate, setting the company on course to achieve the Carbon Literacy Organisation (CLO) Silver standard by the end of the year.
As part of the training, learners gain a comprehensive understanding of their personal and professional impacts on climate change through engaging exercises, and finish the day by making pledges to reduce their own carbon footprints. Pledges are then collated and revisited in due course to allow VWG to understand the positive impacts it is making.
Leanne Thomas, Head of Aftersales Business Development at VWG, who devised and led the training, said: “It was great to see so many people using their Leap Day to make a personal and professional contribution to the environment. There was a lot of passion and some great pledges and I’m really looking forward to seeing the difference we can make collectively. We have three more sessions planned this year, but given the interest and buzz which is building around Carbon Literacy, I think we’ll have to increase our capacity!”
Mark Taylor, Group Business Strategy Manager at VWG, who attended the training said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the day. The content was useful and insightful, and delivered in a way that drew out the actions that we can take on a personal level, and as a collective, to encourage and drive sustainable change and transformation as part of the wider automotive sector.
“This is really close to my heart – since studying Geography at University, I have always had an interest in our impact on the environment. This now presents an opportunity for me to upscale those personal passions, and encourage my colleagues to support the changes we all need to make, to make a difference. It was great to share a session with like-minded colleagues, learn from each other and develop ideas that can make a difference for our business, our community and ourselves.”
Carbon Literacy training is just one part of VWG’s commitment to the environment. The Group, which comprises the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, CUPRA, Škoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands, is responsible for almost one in five cars and vans sold in the UK, and an increasing proportion of battery electric vehicles.
Co-founder of the initiative, and Project Managing Director Dave Coleman said: ”In a world increasingly affected by climate-change, If we are to not just survive, but thrive as individuals and businesses, we all need to be properly prepared for this within our place of work – we need to be Carbon Literate. Volkswagen Group’s new Carbon Literacy course builds on its success on International Carbon Literacy Action Day (CLAD) last year, connecting up its own low-carbon journey and increasing efficiencies, with the low-carbon journeys of its staff, suppliers and customers, to the benefit of all. When it comes to Carbon Literacy, truly, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”