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GO investing to reduce environmental impact

GO investing to reduce environmental impact

Today is World Earth Day. This day encourages everyone to invest in the planet. Companies worldwide are increasingly putting environmental sustainability high on their agendas – a topic that is influencing both business strategy, the supply chain and consumer purchasing decisions.

At GO, attitudes toward climate change, increased awareness, and a deep-rooted need for real change are driving the company to take tangible actions to reduce its environmental impact. As part of its mission to be a purposeful-led organisation it has made environmental sustainability a pillar within its strategic programme.

It is clear that, while GO as a company will make efforts to reduce its carbon footprint it will also help its customers do the same. GO is working towards becoming carbon neutral or reducing carbon footprint to a minimum. They have an ambitious programme in place.

For the third consecutive year, GO has measured its carbon emissions in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, which is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards for organisations. The measurement for 2021 has been expanded to include upstream and downstream emissions from suppliers, customers, employees, and workers working remotely.

GO’s long-term strategy is based on reducing, replacing and transforming. GO is actively reducing size of its equipment rooms. Marsa premises was the site of the work. Birkirkara is the next location to be completed.

GO’s plans for its new headquarters in ejtun include a building which will be one of the leading sustainable buildings on the island

GO’s deployment of its fibre to the home technology network across the Maltese islands, of which over 50 per cent has already been rolled out, is also another green step forward as it replaces the legacy copper network. The company is also deploying its 5G network − technology designed to transfer data in a more energy efficient manner. This technology could lead to an increase in network energy consumption. However, efficiency features, antenna optimization and transmitters not being used and kept on standby will compensate.

GO’s plans for its new headquarters in ejtun include a building which will be one of the leading sustainable buildings on the island through energy-saving light, motion sensors, the use of secondary water stored in purposely built on-site reservoirs and photovoltaics to generate as much renewable energy as possible. 

GO, a remote-first company indirectly contributes to less pollution by allowing a majority its workforce to work at minimum three days remotely. This hybrid mode of working reduces the commute time and is a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

GO invests in its employees and their learning journeys. In an effort to raise awareness and instigate collective efforts, it is rolling out its training awareness named ‘GO Green’. To increase their knowledge about climate change and the actions required to save our planet, all employees were asked to complete a survey.

All employees will also be invited to participate an interactive workshop. Employees are encouraged to act in their workplaces as well as their private lives to address the climate change. Recovered equipment is being inspected and, when possible, refurbished or reissued. This not only helps GO save money but also helps reduce its carbon footprint.

The company is also moving towards becoming paperless. Since GO started to measure its carbon footprint emissions, many departments went paperless. This allowed GO reduce its paper consumption by almost a tonne. This was achieved mainly by digitally signing contracts and sending customers digital copies of the agreements.

Other initiatives that are contributing towards a curb on emissions include the shutting down of the legacy TV network, maximising technicians’ travel time and the acquisition of 76 per cent shareholding in energy management company SENS Innovation Group Limited, a company that leverages proprietary IoT-based technology to reduce energy consumption and associated costs for commercial buildings.

All this is part of GO’s road map to become a sustainable company, to being a role model for other business entities and to guiding customers so that they too can become protagonists in these initiatives.

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