From
September
14, 2009
People who emit more than their
fair share of carbon emissions are having their pay docked in a trial that
could lead to rationing being reintroduced via the workplace after an absence
of half a century.
Workers who take a long-haul
flight are likely to be fined for exceeding their annual ration unless they
take drastic action in other areas, such as switching off the central heating
or cutting out almost all car journeys. Employees are required to submit
quarterly reports detailing their consumption. They are also set a target,
which reduces each year, for the amount of carbon they can emit.
Those who exceed their ration pay
a fine for every kilogram they emit over the limit. The money is deducted from
their pay and the level of the fine is printed on payslips. Those who consume
less than their ration are rewarded at the same rate per kilogram.
The maximum that an employee can
earn or be fined has been capped at £100, but is likely to rise once staff have grown accustomed to the idea.
WSP, the global engineering
consultancy, has been conducting the rationing scheme among 80 of its British
employees for almost two years. In the first year the overall carbon footprint
of participants fell by 10 per cent. The company is discussing its scheme with
several FTSE 100 companies.
Three quarters of the employees
were rewarded and a quarter, including Stuart McLachlan, the
managing director, were fined. Mr McLachlan tried to cut his carbon
footprint by buying a bike and cycling 12 miles to work from
The idea of personal quotas for
carbon emissions is being advocated by the thinktank the Institute for Public
Policy Research. Everyone would be given a number of free “credits”, to buy gas
and electricity for their homes, fuel for cars and plane tickets for holidays.
Those who did not use all their credits could sell the excess to people who
used more fossil fuels.
WSP is planning to expand its
rationing scheme next year to cover 3,000 employees in offices around the
world. However, it will set different targets for each country to reflect
national average emissions. In
David Symons, co-ordinator of the
scheme, said that US employees would be unlikely to join a scheme with the same
ration as British staff. “The teams in the States would think they would be in
debit straightaway.”
Mr Symons stayed within his
ration last year by giving up his Mazda RX8 sports car and buying a diesel
Peugeot 207. He met this year’s target largely because his partner had a baby
and he rarely left home except to go to work.
One employee, Dan Dowling, 29,
switched the mode of transport for his honeymoon in
Several WSP staff added that peer
pressure played a part in persuading them to stay within their ration.
Mr McLachlan said: “There have
been some interesting competitive dynamics in the company as a result of having
this transparency.”