"Lights out" event for World Environment Day

Deutsche Post World Net highlighted its climate-protection activities for the United Nations' World Environment Day on June 5. The express and logistics group turned off the lights at its Post Tower headquarters and the nearby Post buildings in Bonn as well as more than 700 DHL sites in 40 countries worldwide for one hour.

The action is a symbolic event to highlight the fact that individual behavior has a substantial impact on world climate. "Our Group has some 500,000 employees and together we can make a clear contribution in the battle against climate change," said Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel.

Employees were encouraged to leave their cars parked and instead to hop on their bikes or use public transportation. Deutsche Post has also set up an Intranet platform for employees to arrange car pools. On top of that, a variety of activities took place in the Post Tower foyer.

Aside from a climate raffle, there was a monitor where employees could track the expected decline in the Post Tower's power consumption on a chart. The Group is also distributing energy-saving tips to more than 6,000 Post employees based in Bonn.

As one of the world's largest employers, the Group also expects employees to make a substantial contribution to its GoGreen climate protection program. During the campaign "Environmental Idea 2008" (Umweltidee 2008), the roughly 170,000 employees of Deutsche Post MAIL had the opportunity to submit their proposals for more sustainable behavior at the workplace. More than 11,000 ideas were sent in during the campaign month of April 2008, out of which the 10 best will be awarded in August.

Established in 1972 by the United Nations, about 150 nations participate in World Environment Day by advocating sustainable use of the Earth's natural resources.