Pembina Corporate Consulting

OneLessTonne.ca

OneLessTonne.ca was jump-started in 2003 when the Climate Change Bureau of Environment Canada sponsored a Pembina Institute pilot initiative called "The One Tonne Corporate Challenge" (OTCC). The goal of the OTCC was to encourage employees from participating companies to reduce their personal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Four corporations-Shell Canada, Petro-Canada, Suncor Energy and ConocoPhillips Canada-participated in this pilot project, which was delivered by the Pembina Institute between October 2003 and December 2004.

Hundreds of employees combined to reduce their annual GHG emissions by a total of 4,575 tonnes-equivalent to 3.46 tonnes per person (like planting 17 trees), or planting a total of 23,000 trees, or taking 762 SUVs off the road for a year-and collectively saved themselves $770,000. And they found out just how easy it was to do. The results of the OTCC pilot are published in One Tonne Corporate Challenge: Overview, Evaluation and Lessons Learned.

Each company assembled an internal team, developed a strategy for delivering the program and used the Pembina Institute's expertise and resources with respect to program design and delivery, communications, and employee engagement. Co-ordinators at the pilot companies had these things to say about the challenge:

• "We started up Shell's One Tonne Challenge in October 2003 and, invited employees to commit to reduce their personal GHG emissions by one tonne. In fact they are doing better than that. The average reduction per registrant was 1.53 tonnes, equaling an average energy savings of $538 per year," said Dr. J. Ashley Nixon, Sustainable Development Adviser and One Tonne Challenge Co-ordinator for Shell Canada Ltd. "All this is possible by taking simple actions to reduce energy use at home and in personal transportation. Just imagine what could be achieved if 10 million Canadians did the same."
• "The One Tonne Challenge is about taking personal responsibility for improving our energy use, and we are very proud of our employees' enthusiastic response to the program," said Shannon Morin, Suncor's Environmental Adviser, Sustainable Development and One Tonne Challenge Co-ordinator. "It's important to recognize that using energy wisely in our day-to-day activities is critical to making long-term progress in addressing global climate change."
• "We saw immediate results at ConocoPhillips, as it was a great fit with our education program on energy efficiency at work and at home. Over 400 people from our Calgary office and field locations signed up on the first day of the program. The online tool generated a lot of coffee- station talk. People were surprised at how easy it was to reduce emissions and save money without changing their whole lifestyle," said Roxanne Pettipas, Environmental Adviser, Sustainable Development and One Tonne Challenge Co-ordinator for ConocoPhillips Canada.
• "Realizing that my family produced about five tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year was pretty shocking. We live a pretty modest lifestyle and I had no idea we produced that amount of greenhouse gases. The One Less Tonne tool is a very motivational tool because you can see right away that even small actions make a big difference. It makes you realize that you don't have to eat the whole elephant in a single bite," said Maureen Pyne, One Tonne Challenge Co-ordinator for Petro-Canada.

Since the pilot, Pembina Corporate Consulting has helped several companies and organizations carry out OneLessTonne.ca initiatives. These include Devon Canada, IHS Energy and the Sierra Club of Canada's Halifax chapter, with more to come in 2006.

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