Swiss Post will invest its CO2 offsetting “pro clima” surcharge in a wind-power project in NewCaledonia which customers have chosen in an online vote.
With “pro clima”, letters, parcels and goods can be shipped in a carbon-neutral way. SinceFebruary 2009, customers can offset the CO2 emissions generated through their mailings by paying a“pro clima” surcharge. In 2010, around 70 million items were shipped this way generating around CHF350,000 (€266,855).
With the collected surcharge, Swiss Post will now support a wind power facility in NewCaledonia, the main island in the southwest Pacific enabling it to offset a total of 27,000 tonnesof CO2. This corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions of a community with around 4,500 residents. Inan online vote, 46% of participants chose the project in the Pacific Ocean. The two otheralternatives were a biomass power plant in India and a waste disposal gas power plant inTurkey.
Through the use of six wind farms in New Caledonia, coal will no longer be needed as a source ofenergy. This will reduce harmful gas emissions, improve the local air quality and make NewCaledonia less dependent on imports of fossil fuels. Furthermore, the project is also important forthe local population, as it provides 50 jobs and thus lessens the pressure on people to migrate.The specially constructed wind turbines can also survive tropical hurricanes, as they can bedismantled in the event of a typhoon warning. It was thanks to this technology that the wind farmswere able to survive the recent typhoon “Yasi” without sustaining damage.
Swiss Post pursues a consistent climate protection strategy. “We are reducing our energyconsumption as much as possible and replacing energy from non-renewable sources with renewableenergies. Customers can offset CO2 emissions from their remaining energy consumption via the “proclima” offer,” the Swiss postal operator explained.
Swiss Post only supports environmental projects with the independently monitored “GoldStandard”. This highest quality seal ensures that the CO2 reduction projects result in a realreduction in greenhouse gases and promote sustainable development in the countries concerned. Todate, no Gold Standard projects have been completed in Switzerland.
