Using China's potential

China faces major environmental problems and the transition to a car-dependant society will only exasperate these issues. Volkswagen Group China holds a particular responsibility for environmental protection alongside other aspects of social responsibility. This is why we are taking measures to minimize the environmental impact of our own products - and we don't stop there, because we must also strive to ensure that environmental awareness plays an important role in all parts of society. To achieve this, Volkswagen has joined forces with the Ministry of the Environment to implement the environmental education initiative GFEEI (Green Future Environmental Education Initiative).

Initiative for more environmental content in lessons
GFEEI focuses on events, environmental programmes and competitions for China's numerous "Green Schools" which are being established throughout the country. "Green Schools" are based on a concept originally developed in the west to encourage schools to use resources more efficiently. The concept is now implemented systematically in China and is undergoing continuous development. The main goal of the environmental education initiative is to make young people, pupils and students more aware of how they can help protect the environment in everyday life.

New Olympic class: Environmental know-how
In 2007, we organized six green-class programmes in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and Shenzhen. In 2008, we significantly expanded the GFEEI programme, taking into account the principles of "Green Olympics", "High-tech Olympics" and "People's Olympics". The focus is on events in the seven Olympic cities Beijing, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang, Shanghai, Qingdao and Hong Kong. We are supported by local "Green Schools" and "Olympic schools", as well as the organization of "environmental protection classes" and "Olympic classes". The programme is also actively supported by former Olympic champions. While the champions demonstrate how they reached their level of sporting achievement, GFEEI shows the pupils the latest ways of protecting the environment and increases their understanding of the Olympic spirit.

Volkswagen has also launched a series of programmes such as the nation-wide "Green classes" lecture tour and the Volkswagen news reporter competition for "Green World" journalism students. The six winners of the competition visited Germany and the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg at the start of 2008 as part of a Chinese-German exchange programme.

A wealth of environmental initiatives in China
Environmental protection and mobility represent major social challenges for the people of China. As a result, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the field of environmental protection is a key factor for success in the automotive industry. The challenge here is not only to ensure the long-term development of the automobile industry, but also to promote environmental responsibility as a means of supporting the ongoing growth of our company.

Alongside the Green Future Environmental Education Initiative, Volkswagen has launched a wide range of additional environmental initiatives in China. Volkswagen Group China presented its new drive strategy in March 2007. This strategy will help reduce fuel consumption and emissions by over 20% across the entire fleet for all models manufactured at Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen by 2010. Volkswagen Group China also implemented the environmental management standard ISO 14001 at all production and distribution sites in China at the end of 2007. The two joint ventures Shanghai-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen have also made a significant contribution to protecting the environment in China.

In March 2007, Shanghai Volkswagen launched the "Olympic Heart Forest" plan. For every vehicle sold at Shanghai Volkswagen, the company pays for one tree to be planted. At the end of 2007, Shanghai Volkswagen donated almost 4 million CNY to the Beijing forestry committee for this purpose.

FAW-Volkswagen has launched the "FAW-VW Charity Forest" programme for a sum of over 400,000 CNY and over 1000 of its distribution sites are taking part. As part of the programme, a forest area will be created, comprising of a "FAW-VW Forest", an "Audi Forest", a "Car-Owner Forest", an "Olympic Forest" and other additional tree-planting areas.

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