The 4th edition of the "Business vs smog" program is about to start
Almost 80% of respondents call climate change straightforward - a climate catastrophe and expect employers to actively engage in environmental protection.
Almost 80% of respondents call climate change a climate catastrophe - according to a survey conducted among employees of companies involved in the 4th edition of the "Business vs smog" program. At the same time, the percentage of employees expecting their employers to be actively involved in the fight for clean air increased from 75% to 80%. The "Business vs smog" program was created on the initiative of PwC and is implemented in cooperation with 28 companies under the auspices of the Krakow Smog Alert and the ASPIRE Association, and under the honorary patronage of the Marshals of the Małopolska and Mazowieckie Voivodeships as well as the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Almost 1,500 people participated in the survey conducted among employees of companies associated in the "Business vs smog" project. As many as 65% of them admitted that they are considering changing their place of work and residence due to poor air quality in the place where they work. This represents an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2020. The percentage of respondents who keep track of information about the air condition in their place of residence remains at a similar level, 63% this year and 64% last year. However, the vast majority of respondents, as many as 87% believe that the quality of the education system in the field of counteracting air pollution in Poland is at least insufficient, of which almost 30% describe these activities as "very bad".
There is a lot of talk today about how companies are implementing ESG activity [environmental, social and governance regulations] into their strategies. "Business vs smog" is a grassroots initiative in which volunteers from 28 companies are involved. In this edition, we also educate about climate change for the first time as part of a separate educational path. The option of online classes is maintained, as it opens up opportunities to educate children and youth throughout Poland, also in small towns distant from large urban areas. We also do not resign from stationary classes - wherever possible. Thanks to this, we can raise environmental awareness throughout the country.
In previous editions of the program, volunteers trained over 36,000 children in schools and kindergartens. A total of 28 organizations joined the 4th edition of "Business vs smog": ABB, Airly, Akamai Technologies, Amer Sports, Amway, Aon, ASPIRE Associacion, CANPACK Group, Centrum Wolontariatu, Cisco Systems, Credit Suisse, Ecolab, Euroclear, Herbalife, Hitachi Vantara, HSBC, IAG GBS, Jacobs, Krakow Smog Alert, Knowable, Maxima Europe, Motorola, Ocado Polska, PwC, Sappi, State Street Bank Polska, UBS, Zurich Insurance Company LTD.
"It is, among other things, business that is responsible not only for caring for the natural environment, but also for making the public aware of the importance of engaging in the fight for clean air and climate. This is the fourth edition of the "Business vs smog" program, which shows that companies are actively and systematically engaged in activities for our environment. The results of this year's survey confirm what we have been saying for years - Polish residents want to breathe clean air and expect decisive action."
The aim of this year's edition of "Business vs smog" is the implementation of the employee volunteering program in the area of educating children and young people about air quality and counteracting climate change. Thanks to the joining of new companies, volunteers will be able to reach even more schools and kindergartens with training, not only from the Małopolskie Voivodeship. Classes are conducted by volunteers previously trained by the Krakow Smog Alert, and the program is adapted to different age groups. Workshop participants will learn, inter alia, what is smog, why does it arise, what threats it brings to human health and life, and what can and should be done to be able to breathe cleaner air. The thematic path on climate change will enable children and young people to learn about the main causes of climate change and to shape ecological attitudes in everyday life. The organizers of the project emphasize that all workshops are free of charge.
"During the 4th edition of the "Business vs smog" program, a declaration will be signed obliging the signatories to work for the benefit of the climate, clean air and environmental education. We chose Krakow as the place to sign this joint declaration - this is the city where our initiative began. Today, the Business vs smog program has a nationwide coverage."
Here is the content of the declaration:
"Responding to one of the most important challenges of our society, which are climate change, poor air and natural environment quality in Poland, we declare our full commitment to the "Business vs smog" program, acting to raise the environmental awareness of Poles."
O PwC
W PwC naszym celem jest budowanie społecznego zaufania i odpowiadanie na kluczowe wyzwania współczesnego świata. Jesteśmy siecią firm działającą w 155 krajach. Zatrudniamy ponad 284 tysięcy osób, które dostarczają naszym klientom najwyższej jakości usługi w zakresie doradztwa biznesowego, technologicznego, podatkowo-prawnego oraz audytu. W Polsce PwC posiada biura w 7 miastach oraz Financial Crime Unit w Gdańsku i Warszawie, dwa Centra Usług Wspólnych w Katowicach i Opolu oraz oddział PwC IT Services w Lublinie. Polskie spółki PwC zatrudniają ponad 6000 osób. Dowiedz się więcej na www.pwc.pl.
O Krakowskim Alarmie Smogowym
Krakowski Alarm Smogowy to ruch społeczny, który powstał w 2012 roku w odpowiedzi na dramatyczną jakość powietrza w Krakowie. Choć aktywność stowarzyszenia początkowo dotyczyła jedynie Krakowa, obecnie KAS prowadzi działania w całym kraju. Od 2014 roku pełni rolę koordynatora i sekretariatu Polskiego Alarmu Smogowego – sieci zrzeszającej oddolne ruchy antysmogowe z terenu całej Polski. Od początku swego istnienia KAS zabiega o ustanowienie niezbędnych ram prawnych (w tym norm jakości węgla, standardów emisyjnych dla kotłów, uchwał antysmogowych, ograniczeń w ruchu samochodowym), wdrożenie skutecznego systemu kontroli przepisów ochrony powietrza oraz uruchomienie szerokich programów finansowych wspierających mieszkańców w przejściu na źródła ciepła, które nie przyczyniają się do zanieczyszczenia powietrza.
O Stowarzyszeniu ASPIRE
ASPIRE reprezentuje firmy z sektora IT i zaawansowanych usług biznesowych. To największa tego typu organizacja w Polsce, zrzeszająca ponad 180 podmiotów, głównie firmy o zasięgu międzynarodowym. Więcej informacji na stronie www.aspire.org.pl.
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