Virgin Media UK Sets Five “Sustainability Goals” for the Next 5 Years

Virgin Media (Liberty Global) has today committed itself to achieving five “ambitious” sustainability goals in the next five years, which covers everything from the energy efficiency of their on-going £3bn “Project Lighting” network expansion to improving the lives of disabled people through digital technology.

As the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Virgin Media, Brigitte Trafford, said: “We have the power, the people and the ambition to change lives. Virgin Media is committed to delivering our five goals over the next five years proving the positive impact that technology can have on society and the environment.”

Part of this effort also involves a £1m partnership with Scope, a disability charity. Virgin Media said they would work closely with Scope’s Assistive Technologists to ensure they have the digital skills needed to help people living with disabilities.

The Five Sustainability Goals

1. Transform the lives of disadvantaged people in the UK through digital technology.

2. Give 100,000 small businesses the ability to thrive in the UK’s economy through digital.

3. Expand ultrafast broadband to 4m more premises without increasing its carbon footprint.

4. Nurture a workforce which represents the diversity of its customers and communities.

5. Improve the sustainability performance of every new customer product.

As usual the wording is all very spin positive and you’d almost expect a 6th goal for ensuring world peace, although what’s missing in the press release is some detail about how these will all be practically achieved. Thankfully a link is provided that gives more detail, but it doesn’t work (virginmedia.com/sustainability). Luckily we found the correct one HERE.

Being ISPreview.co.uk we’re naturally more interested in that pledge to keep a flat carbon footprint for Project Lighting, which would be quite an achievement given the 4 million premises involved. Apparently much of this will be delivered by using more energy efficient kit, increasing the fuel-efficiency of its fleet and exploring on-site renewable technologies.

After digging a bit deeper we found a list of how this efficiency will be achieved.

Project Lighting’s Flat Carbon Footprint

* Achieve 100g CO2/km average emissions in our car fleet
* Achieve 5% improvement in our van fleet MPG
* Reduce truck rolls by 500,000
* Install efficient lighting in key office sites
* Explore and invest in onsite renewables
* Ensure energy and carbon costs are factored into business decisions

The plan to connect 100,000 home offices and small businesses to their “ultrafast” cable broadband network is also interesting as previously there hasn’t been much clarity with regards to how many of the 4 million extra premises would be business orientated.