We recognise the impact that our business has on the world we live in through the burning of fossil fuels, and aim to ensure that we undertake all aspects of our business in a responsible manner. At every stage of our decision making process we seek to consider the social and environmental impacts of our actions.
We aim to take the wellbeing of our employees seriously, as it is their talent, energy and knowledge that enable us to compete successfully in today's demanding business conditions. It's not just our employees that make our business a success – from the communities in which we operate to government departments and local liaison committees, all of our stakeholders have a role to play in our success.
Meeting the Government’s targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a challenging goal that will need a fundamental change to the energy infrastructure in the UK, through significant investment in low-carbon technologies and society as a whole changing the way it uses energy.
We’re planning investments in new power stations that could amount to £1 billion each year over the next 10 years and are planning to move to a diverse and sustainable mix of power stations, including gas, renewables, cleaner coal and nuclear.
We are also investing in free and subsidised energy efficiency measures for our customers, to help them use less energy and budget more.
Our business, especially our generation activities, has an impact on the environment. So managing our emissions, water use and by-products and protecting the areas around our sites are important areas for us.
In 2009, we completed the installation of Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) technology at our Aberthaw coal-fired Power Station, which will cut sulphur dioxide emissions by up to 95%.
We are responding to the growing demand for energy efficiency solutions from both our business and residential customers. We have reorganised our retail business to reflect the ever-changing energy market by creating a dedicated Energy Services division, which enables us to focus on more forward looking opportunities like smart metering.
The Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) sets energy-saving targets for each energy supplier based on the number of customers it has. To meet our CERT targets, we will spend around £400 million over the next three years on helping our customers reduce the amount of energy they use through free or subsidised energy efficiency measures.
Our Climate Cops programme helps schools across the UK become greener and more sustainable. As part of the programme, we give schools green makeovers and free energy audits by trained professionals. They also get expert advice on how to lower their carbon emissions, along with funding for energy efficiency and microgeneration projects.
In July 2009 we celebrated an important milestone - 20,000 students have now graduated from our Climate Cop Academy since the programme was launched in November 2007, and are now saving energy at school and at home.
To make sure npower has the calibre of engineers and scientists needed in the future, in 2006 three of our graduates created our enthuse programme. The aim of the programme is to inspire young people to consider a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects and engage our employees in sharing their STEM knowledge and skills.
Aimed at 13 to 14 year-olds, enthuse is based around activity days for students involving teamwork exercises, problem solving and hands-on challenges with an engineering and science focus. In 2008 over 4,800 students from across England and Wales participated in enthuse event days.
Launched in 2006, Urban Cricket aims to introduce cricket to a new, young audience, and to get children active. We have given out over 62,000 kits so far, and have built a series of cricket specific sporting facilities in inner-city locations. We’ve already opened the first three at Wyck Park in Brixton, South London, Abbeyfield Park, Sheffield, and Highgate Park in Birmingham.
There's one charity in particular that we support – Macmillan Cancer Support. Since being chosen by our people as our corporate charity, we've supported them in some major events including the World's Biggest Coffee Morning – where an estimated 2 million people raised their mugs for people living with cancer. We've been working with Macmillan since 2004, during which time our employees have helped to raise vital funds to improve the lives of those affected by cancer. Our partnership is now valued at over £2.4 million.
We believe it’s important to target community support where it’s most needed. In 2000, we set up the Health Through Warmth (HTW) scheme to identify people living in cold, damp homes, and then help by facilitating the installation of the appropriate energy efficiency and heating measures.
Since 2000, we’ve accessed over £42 million, helping vulnerable people affected by poor living conditions. The scheme assists people of any age, and they don’t have to be an npower customer.
We work closely with the National Health Service (NHS), local authorities, Home Improvement and Care & Repair agencies, and National Energy Action in 14 areas across England and Wales.
We want to put something back and we want you to enjoy working for us. Don't just take it from us; here are just some of the activities and events that our recent graduates have enjoyed over the past year: Running clubs, gym facilities, the Macmillan walk, the Great North Run, cricket, 5-a-side, graduate forums and away days, home-working options, flexible travel, volunteer days, sports events, societies and clubs, parties, nights out, team-building and charitable events.
To find out more about our approach to Corporate Responsibility, visit our CR website
