Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU) and Volkswagen Financial Services’ international commitment to peatland conservation began with the restoration of peatlands damaged by drainage and peat extraction in the Slowinski National Park and western Pomerania in Poland. On-site at the peatland in Krakulice, NABU President Olaf Tschimpke sent a scientific study to Lars-Henner Santelmann, Sales and Marketing Executive of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, and Wolfram Thomas, Group Representative for Environment, Energy and New Business of Volkswagen AG, which forms the basis of peatland conservation in northern Eurasia. Volkswagen Financial Services also presented specific measures to promote environmentally friendly fleet management in the Polish automobile market.
The basis of the commitment to peatland conservation in Poland is formed by the International Peatland Conservation Fund (IPCS), which was founded by NABU at the beginning of the year and which Volkswagen Financial Services will provide with a total of one million euros of funding over five years. “We have had very good experiences with this kind of funding instrument in Germany and already use it to support 13 peatland conservation projects,” says Santelmann. “Our long-term involvement with NABU shows that we are serious about providing tangible support to climate protection projects and that this is a fixed part of our company philosophy,” he adds.
Peatlands play an important role in worldwide climate protection as well in biodiversity. In many countries, however, they have lost their original status as carbon sinks and, due to agricultural and silvicultural use, are at risk of desiccation – including in Poland. Destroyed peatlands emit large quantities of greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, which are released into the atmosphere.
The basic concept of the International Peatland Conservation Fund is a NABU study, which is now complete and was funded by Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Financial Services, demonstrating the potential for restoring and improving the conservation of peatlands in eastern Europe and the European part of Russia. Specific case studies of the efficient use of funding for peatland conservation are also described. “The issue of biodiversity plays an important role for the Volkswagen Group in reaching the ecological top spot,” says Thomas. “Our joint peatland conservation efforts have had outstanding positive effects on climate protection, biological diversity, and the protection of ecosystems and natural resources, such as water.”
The first restoration areas funded by the International Peatland Conservation Fund lie in western Pomerania on Poland’s Baltic coast. The target is to restore at least 900 hectares of peatland in Poland. Due to decades of drainage, these peatlands lose their original role of CO2 stores over time. Together with the Polish NABU partner association “Klub Przyrodników”, the natural condition of the peatlands will be restored by accumulating water. “Peatland conservation offers enormous opportunities to protect nature and our climate, both in Germany and internationally. With the planned restoration projects in Poland, important nature paradises can be rescued and gases that are harmful to the climate can be absorbed. With the help of the International Peatland Conservation Fund, we want to realise even more projects of this kind in the future,” emphasises Tschimpke.
As another initiative, Volkswagen Financial Services is extending the programme of promoting environmentally fleet management in Poland. Almost 90 per cent of the Polish automobile market is made up of the sale of used vehicles. The average age of vehicles in the overall market is 14.3 years (source: Instytut badań rynku motoryzacyjnego, SAMAR). By comparison: in the entire European Union, the average vehicle age is 8.3 years (source: European Automotive Manufacturers Association, ACEA). “Due to the high vehicle age and the associated high CO2 emissions, we see great potential for making the vehicle market more environmentally friendly,” says Santelmann. “This is why we are planning to expand our leasing business in particular – to make new vehicles with short leases affordable.” Other components of ecological fleet management include eco-driving training for major customers, fuel cards and the fleet software FleetCARS, which enables transparent CO2 reporting.
Volkswagen Financial Services is a division of Volkswagen AG (Group) and comprises Volkswagen Financial Services AG with its holding companies as well as the financial services companies owned directly or indirectly by Volkswagen AG in the USA, Canada, Argentina and Spain – with the exception of the brands Scania and Porsche, and Porsche Holding Salzburg. The key areas of business include dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance, fleet management and mobility packages. Volkswagen Financial Services has 12,821 employees worldwide – of which 6,254 are in Germany alone (as at 31/12/2014). The Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft 2014 Annual Report revealed a balance sheet total of around 137.4 billion euros for Volkswagen Financial Services as well as an operating result of 1.7 billion euros and a portfolio of around 12.4 million contracts.
Volkswagen AG and NABU are affiliated with each other in a dialogue and project partnership. The company has set itself the goal of becoming the leading ecological automobile manufacturer in the world by 2018. Volkswagen receives sound advice and critical guidance for this from the environmental protection and nature conservation association with the most members in Germany. Volkswagen combines initiatives for environmental protection and resource efficiency with the funding of nature and species conservation projects. The strategic collaboration between Volkswagen and NABU has received numerous awards for best practice in sustainability management.