Russ Curry, Ministry of New Media
JCDecaux has announced that France is now one of the Group’s 19 subsidiaries which meet all their electricity needs through renewable energy sources, an aim achieved at the end of 2019.
Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux, told us “In response to the climate crisis, JCDecaux is seeking to minimise the environmental impact of its activity, and particularly its energy consumption, not only in France but all over the world. This is a strategic priority. In recognition of this commitment and transparency, last week JCDecaux joined the CDP A List. I am proud to see that France, like other subsidiaries, has taken decisive action, exceeding our targets three years ahead of schedule. As a truly collective medium that is part of our everyday lives, JCDecaux is not only a committed company but also an efficient and responsible advertising medium. Through our presence in over 2,000 cities around France, we are helping to raise awareness of environmental issues and to promote more sustainable lifestyles. The legitimacy of the messages that we seek to spotlight and convey depends on the credibility and reliability of our efforts to respond to the trust expressed by our customers (cities, transport companies and advertisers)”.
In line with a business model that has always combined economic growth with a social and environmental focus, the Group restated its commitment to climate action at Climate Week in New York last September. As the first outdoor advertising group to join RE100, a global business initiative committed to 100% renewable electricity, JCDecaux underlined its objective of meeting all its electricity consumption needs through renewable energy sources by 2022. As set out in the Sustainability strategy, the target for all subsidiaries in 2019 was to cover 75% of their electricity consumption needs through renewable energy sources. Nineteen countries, including France decided to reach the full 100% by the end of 2019.
For over 55 years, the Group has sought to improve quality of life in the city for all users of public spaces. To this end, it has increased accessibility, developed new connected services and improved resource management. To reduce its environmental footprint, JCDecaux innovates continuously through attractive and sustainable solutions meeting high standards of quality. For example, it reinvented the use of bikes in the city, rolling out a self-service bike network to supplement public transport and improve the travelling experience by developing intermodality and promoting more sustainable behaviour and means of travel. A pioneer in this area, JCDecaux is present in 57 cities and 13 countries. In France, 27% of journeys made with a self-service bike would have been made using public transport without this service, while 12% would have been made using a personal vehicle (source: Observatoire des mobilités émergentes (observatory of emerging mobilities) 2016).
Their R&D teams, located outside Paris in Plaisir, are constantly seeking to reduce the energy consumption of their analogue furniture by replacing existing lighting systems with LED and smart lighting solutions. By changing the way the furniture uses lighting – e.g. by adjusting brightness or fitting presence sensors – these solutions improve energy performance by over 60%. The choice of digital street furniture is based on a selective strategy with a premium focus. The screens are required to meet strict criteria of quality and energy efficiency to ensure that their electricity consumption is in line with their function and expected usage. JCDecaux is also promoting the use of vehicles with low environmental impact for its fleets. Whenever possible, employees are supplied with clean vehicles. For over ten years, JCDecaux has also developed the implementation of photovoltaic solar panels in its furniture to increase the use of renewable energy sources.
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