Responsibility – success for the common good
We will continue our responsible journey as a successful Finnish company that has kept society moving for almost 160 years. Responsibility is a key part of our company’s strategy and a uniting theme of our business operations and growth areas. We want to be a pioneer of responsible business and set an example, as a company, for others.
We are heading Together towards a better world, in accordance with our vision. Which means that we are aiming for the top. At the same time, we are increasing our impact and doing our best to help our customers and society as a whole to achieve their sustainable development goals. This is possible, since travelling by train and other forms of public transport is growing increasingly popular and, correspondingly, more and more industry tonnes are travelling on railways.
Everyday acts of responsibility
For our company, the key areas of responsibility are safety, customer orientation, employee experience, environmental responsibility and corporate social responsibility.
Our annually updated responsibility programme brings together the work being done at our Group for the good of people, the environment and society as a whole. It creates a structure within our company for undertaking responsibility efforts. For our company, the key areas of responsibility are safety, customer orientation, employee experience, environmental responsibility and corporate social responsibility. These themes were selected by listening to our stakeholders. For our key areas, our responsibility programme includes targets as well as related responsibility promises which extend to 2030.
We will fulfil these promises with concrete responsibility actions, which will be taken across all of our business units. The idea is that we examine all of our day-to-day choices and decisions consistently from the perspective of responsibility. Every day, every VR employee makes responsibility a reality within their own role.
Climate friendly on the tracks
Rail transport has an essential role in curbing climate change. Rail transport produces lower emissions and consumes less energy than other modes of transport. We have used electricity produced with renewable energy in the VR Group traffic for a long time and to a large extent.
Even though travelling by train is environmentally friendly and VR trains already are the greenest option, we are committed to doing even more for the environment.
VR and UPM Plywood collaborate to reduce traffic emissions
The sustainability collaboration between the companies is taking a significant step forward as VR commits to using as much renewable diesel in its rail traffic as is consumed by UPM Plywood’s transport of plywood from the Pellos plant to Kouvola and Kotka. This is VR’s first HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) concept for rail logistics, whereby emissions from customer transports in the Scope 1 emission class* are reduced to almost zero.
Focus on sustainable development
Our responsibility efforts are also based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, of which we have identified the six most central to us. They are related to the climate efforts and sustainable cities and communities. Central matters also include the objectives for worthwhile work and economic growth, cooperation and partnership and decreasing inequality. We are also investing in sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure.
