CO2-neutral by 2030

Our goal is to be carbon neutral by 2030. Our ambition is greater: we want to eventually become CO2-negative.

Why the environment pillar?

We only have one planet. We have to be careful with it. By preventing waste and constantly reducing CO2 emissions. Although, as a listed company, we have to deal with environmental laws and regulations, it is absolutely our own choice to become CO2 neutral. It is something we want to achieve from our own intrinsic motivation.

As much as 92% of our own CO2 footprint comes from the travel movements of our employees. Gas and electricity consumption in our offices accounts for 6% of our CO2 emissions. Therefore, mobility is a spearhead in our approach to reduce CO2.

The corona pandemic has strongly influenced our way of working and thinking. It has resulted in fewer travel movements to and from the office and customers. And with it, less power and gas consumption in our offices. This new mindset is helping us to achieve our goals. We motivate our employees to work and meet ‘smarter’ from locations, using technological support. In addition, concrete initiatives are needed, which are explained below.

Despite our initiatives, we will always continue to emit CO2. To compensate for these, we plant our own Ordina forest.

• ECOVADIS | This is a certification in Belgium and the Netherlands in the field of sustainability.

• SBTI (Science Based Targets) | This is an international standard for reducing emissions to stay below 2° or 1.5° global warming. Ordina is committed to setting and achieving the appropriate CO2 emission targets.

• Coalition Anders Reizen | We joined the Dutch coalition Anders Reizen in 2020 and committed to the target of reducing CO2 emissions per FTE caused by business mobility by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2016). Although Anders Reizen is a Dutch initiative, we are also applying the target for Ordina BeLux. This initiative fits well with our long-term ambition to be CO2 neutral by 2030.

• Electric lease cars and charging stations | Employees in the Netherlands can switch to fully electric lease cars since 2018. We provide a bonus and make charging stations at home available. In doing so, we pay attention to emitting as little CO2 as possible during the charging process. This means that we strive to ensure that charging is not done with ‘grey’ electricity, but only with locally produced green electricity. Only then is green electricity truly green. We follow the definitions of the national government. To make electric driving more attractive, we allow our employees the freedom to choose an electric car within certain limits. The brand policy does not apply to this type of vehicle.

• Fully electric leasing fleet | Diesels will no longer be offered in our new leasing offer from September 2020 due to their particulate matter emissions. In Belgium and Luxembourg, only fully electric cars will be admitted to the lease offering from 2025. In the Netherlands, this will be decided in the course of 2022. Existing contracts will be served out, but only fully electric cars will be available with each new contract. This means that the leasing fleet in Belgium and Luxembourg will be fully electric by mid-2029.

• Train or bicycle | Ordina encourages lease drivers to leave their cars behind and travel business miles by other means. An NS Business Card is available for all lease car drivers in the Netherlands and a lease bicycle will also be an option from April 2021 onwards.

• Close the Gap | Ordina Belgium donates used IT equipment to Close the Gap. This non-profit organisation gives a second life to laptops, servers and telephones in developing countries and recently also in European schools. In this way, we help to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities from digitalisation.

• CO2 Performance Ladder | This is an instrument that helps organizations realize a structural reduction in their CO2 emissions. See SKAO website: www.co2-prestatieladder.nl

• Agoria | Ordina BeLux has joined Agoria, the professional association for IT companies. We are starting to exchange knowledge in the Agoria Sounding Board - Sustainability. The topics we would like to include within this initiative are the possible measures within our sector that lead to CO2 reduction and, in connection with this, the topic of energy efficiency within our sector.