Red letter day as Royal Mail joins 10:10 climate change campaign

Biggest organisation so far to back emissions effort. Customers and employees encouraged to join in. Biggest organisation so far to back emissions effort. Customers and employees encouraged to join in.

The Royal Mail has become the latest major business to sign up to 10:10, the national climate change campaign to reduce carbon emissions in the UK by 10% in 2010. With 176,000 employees, it is the largest organisation to commit to 10:10 so far.

Royal Mail will not only seek to reduce its CO2 emissions in 2010 but will encourage its staff and business customers to do the same. The company says it has already reduced its operational emissions by more than 5% over the past three to four years.

In the next 12 months Royal Mail intends to: roll out more double-decker delivery trucks, which can carry more items per vehicle; improve route planning to reduce the total distance travelled; encourage its staff to reduce their emissions at home as well as at work; and offer cost savings to business customers that commit to only sending mail using sustainable paper and fully recyclable packaging.

Dr Martin Blake, head of sustainability for Royal Mail said the company planned to reduce its emissions by 50% by 2015.He said: “Our process is avoid, reduce, replace and offset. So first we aim to avoid emitting carbon, for example by eliminating unnecessary journeys. Reduction will see us trying to cut the amount of fossil fuel we use. Replacement will see the fuel we use replaced with low or zero carbon equivalents. And finally, we’ll offset.”

The campaign, which hopes to build a grassroots movement for tougher action on climate change, is backed by the Guardian. In the week since launch it has attracted 14,000 individuals, 550 companies, 150 schools and 250 other organisations such as hospitals and councils