Engaging employees in sustainable transportation initiatives
23 Oct 2024
With more than 40,000 Total Quality Assurance experts around the world, employee commuting inevitably contributes to our global value chain emissions. We are committed to reaching Net Zero emissions by 2050, so reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution from traditional transportation methods is an essential part of our climate transition plan. Through the implementation of clean transportation initiatives, we engage our colleagues and reduce their commuting emissions.
In mainland China, our team is achieving this on a large scale through an electric shuttle bus service operating across the south and east of the country, where many of our employees are based. These electric vehicles (EVs) transport around 1,100 employees, over 10% of our workforce in the country, to and from the office each day.
Starting with the introduction of a small EV fleet in Shenzhen in 2017, the initiative has grown in response to the launch of our companywide emissions reduction targets and climate transition plan.
In South China, more than 80% of employee commuter buses are now EVs, most of these in the major cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. To increase this positive impact, we are working with suppliers to replace the remaining petrol-powered buses in the region with EVs.
In East China, nearly a third of employee commuter buses – all in Shanghai – are EVs. For services operating just outside the city, where location and the availability of charging facilities create additional challenges, we continue to explore options for transitioning.
With 30 electric buses in operation across the country, this initiative is currently saving nearly 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.
According to the International Council for Clean Transportation, battery electric vehicles have by far the lowest lifecycle GHG emissions among passenger cars today. Through our efforts in China and other countries where we are investing in EV technologies, we are helping to make our planet a cleaner and healthier place for everyone.