JEAN MICHEL GRAS EN

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
WITH JEAN MICHEL GRAS

Jean Michel Gras

Director of General Affairs, Security and Real Estate

 

 

 

Does the TF1 group also have issues around ecological transition ?

We have set ourselves an objective of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. It is essential that our company be part of a collective drive to achieve ecological transition. Our high profile means we must make a clear contribution to social trends and aspirations. It is an absolute imperative on which our Group is engaged, as well as our partners and suppliers, and of course, our staff.

How are you involving your employees in this ?

Our priority is that employees should feel that they are players, that they can contribute in very practical ways and play a role in the ecological transition of the Group. There are many possibilities, such as waste sorting, reducing paper consumption, soft mobility, cutting electricity consumption, zero plastic use, and organising events dedicated to ecological transition. As regards eliminating plastic waste, we have committed to making a substantial reduction, largely based on employees’ engagement in the area of plastic consumption in the workplace. These objectives have been enshrined in targets for plastic waste reduction in our profit-sharing agreement with our employees.

What is the Group doing about energy consumption ?

We are acting on several levels. Again we are involving employees: the profit-sharing agreement also includes a target for reducing power consumption. We are raising awareness at various management levels and mobilising managers. In 2018 we obtained ISO 50 001 certification for the energy performance of our head office at Boulogne, with a commitment to cut our consumption of fluids (including gas) by 30% by 2025 (versus 2011). We have already exceeded that target, with a reduction of nearly 32% achieved in 2021. Mobility issues are also key : any new vehicle joining TF1’s vehicle fleet must be electric or hybrid. Diesel vehicles are already prohibited and car-sharing electric vehicles are made available to staff for business use. Digital initiatives are also crucial : in 2020, we commissioned two new energy-efficient Data Centres which will gradually replace the old technical centres, which are more energy-consumptive. The new Data Centres will considerably improve the energy efficiency of our IT facilities due to their leading edge technology, especially in cooling.

What are your objectives for the future ?

We have used Ecovadis to evaluate our suppliers’ CSR policies ever since we adopted our responsible procurement policy in 2008, and ultimately we intend to introduce environmental criteria specific to each product type. We need to go much further in curtailing energy use and waste production, and in reducing our property footprint. The main aim will be to comply with the French tertiary decree, which requires substantial cuts in consumption, operation and waste relating to premises. We will have to take action to achieve a total reduction of over 50% by 2030. This will impose new working methods and technologies, and we will need to achieve very precise control over our buildings and infrastructures.

All that cannot be achieved without strong engagement from our staff and partners.