NETWORK TEN

Network Ten's environmental strategy, Making Your Mark, is now in its second year. Recognising the complexity and breadth of the task we set ourselves in April 2008, we have established a national committee to lead our environmental sustainability efforts. This group of senior managers meets regularly and is led by the Network's Sustainability Manager.

We also have a network of employee volunteers who help feed new ideas into the national committee, champion Making Your Mark in their local workplaces and help research and implement sustainability practices.

Since launching Making Your Mark, we have made substantial inroads towards achieving our environmental goal of reducing emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, compared with our 2006/07 levels. We have reduced our carbon emissions by 10 per cent at a time when our business is expanding and Australia continues to experience the impacts of climate change.

In order to accurately measure and track our emissions, we have clearly defined the scope of our business and the emissions associated with these operations. Consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, we have divided our emissions as follows:

Scope 1 emissions relate to direct greenhouse gas emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by Network Ten and include premises and company-owned vehicles

Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions that result from the consumption of electricity that the Network buys from third parties, and

Scope 3 emissions are other indirect greenhouse gas emissions which occur due to Network Ten's business activities, but are not within our direct control, such as waste sent to landfill or air travel.

With around 56 per cent of the Network's carbon emissions stemming from electricity used in our buildings, we have begun implementing a series of efficiency strategies designed to lower our energy consumption and reduce our exposure to increasing energy prices.

In our Sydney studios, we conducted an extensive energy audit, developed a long-term energy efficiency action plan and installed a 'smart' energy metering system throughout the building.

As well as minimising our electricity consumption, major priorities for the year have been waste reduction and improved recycling. We have successfully cut waste across the network by a further 29 per cent, reducing the total amount of waste sent to landfill from 691 tonnes per year in 2006/07 to just 292 tonnes per year over the past 18 months. This year, our recycling efforts have been substantially enhanced by two employee-led initiatives: an e-waste amnesty and a managed phase-out of polystyrene cups in staff kitchens. These initiatives saved around 1.5 tonnes of e-waste and will save the purchase of more than 80,000 disposable cups each year.

As a national free-to-air broadcaster, Network Ten recognises that it has an enormous opportunity to help others to make environmentally sustainable choices. This year, we have continued to highlight sustainability issues through environmentally themed programming and community service announcements.

In June, we ran our second annual long weekend of environmental programming, coinciding with World Environment Day on June 5 and continuing over the long weekend. The Making Your Mark long weekend of programming reached 5.31 million viewers and featured the first-run screening of the Australian Conservation Foundation's environmental documentary, Telling The Truth, environmental segments on 9am with David and Kim, TEN News at Five, Ready Steady Cook, Toasted TV, Good News Week, Video Hits and Test Drive, as well as environmental story-lines in Neighbours and The Simpsons.

During the Making Your Mark long weekend, we launched our new on-air environmental education campaign. Featuring environmental campaigners Ian Kiernan and Aaron Wood, musicians Diesel and Old Man River, Network Ten personalities and members of the community who are each making their own environmental mark, the campaign will be broadcast on the Network's channels TEN and ONE for the remainder of the year. Since its launch in June, this campaign has reached 67 per cent of Australians in Network Ten's markets.

Other initiatives this year include on-air and online support for the AFL's 'green' round, regular environmental news update segments, produced in partnership with Honda, and increased support for environmental community organisations through community service airtime and employee volunteer support. At the end of the 2009 financial year, Network Ten had donated air time valued at over $2.5 million to promote environmental causes for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Planet Ark, Coastcare and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

As Australia's only commercial free-to-air network with an environmental news unit and a dedicated environmental reporter, Network Ten maintains a strong environmental focus in its daily news bulletins. This year the Network's environment reporter, Emily Rice, has filed more than 150 environmental stories including an analysis of the Government's White Paper on the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme and a detailed environmental analysis of the Victorian bushfire disaster. In January, we had the only Australian media crew covering the World Future Energy Summit in the Middle East. The quality and depth of Network Ten's environmental reporting has been acknowledged with Emily Rice named a finalist in the UN Environment Day awards.

Network Ten remains an industry leader on environmental issues. In December 2008, we were included on the Australian SAM Sustainability Index (AuSSI) and in 2009 we were again re-listed on the FTSE4Good Sustainability Investment Index.

Network Ten was the only national media company to participate in the Federal Government's Greenhouse Challenge Plus program. The program helped Network Ten to improve its greenhouse gas management and provided valuable information about emissions measurement and monitoring. Network Ten also participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project, the biggest international reporting tool for managing a corporation's carbon risk, and in 2009, Network Ten was included in its inaugural Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for Australia and New Zealand.