Updated Carbon Footprint 2021/22

As a signatory to the Pledge to Net Zero, we have made a commitment to deliver a greenhouse gas emissions target in line with a ‘well below 2°C’ climate change scenario – covering buildings and travel as a minimum. Our target includes a commitment to reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (inclusive of business travel and staff commuting) by 27.5% by 2030, from a baseline year of 2019. Pledge to Net Zero have now indicated that all signatories must align their science-based targets with a 1.5°C trajectory for the next reporting year, this means that we will now increase its ambition to reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 46.2% by 2030.

Carbon Footprint 2021/22

Our carbon footprint for FY 2021/22 is a total of 56 tCO2e, this represents a total reduction of 50% from our baseline figure of 112 tCO2e, and a 9% increase from last year’s figure of 51tCO2e.

Some comments with regards to this latest carbon footprint are as follows:

• Emissions from business travel have increased from last year’s reporting, due to the relaxing of COVID19 travel restrictions – this makes up around 41% of our scoped emissions output.
• Emissions from employee commuting have increased by around 25%, due to the reintroduction of  staff into our office locations.
• Estimated emissions from the use of electricity have increased, likely due to an increased number of staff working from regional office locations. However, the use of natural gas in our office buildings has decreased, indicating some efficiency improvements in the use of energy in our owned and leased office spaces. This is likely to increase as we move away from a reporting period which includes some months which continued to apply social distancing restrictions.

While this carbon footprint continues to carry some outlier reductions driven by post pandemic restrictions, we have again delivered a carbon footprint which is not only on track to meet our original target of a 27.5% reduction in scoped carbon emissions by 2030, but also on track for our increased ambition to meet a 46.2% reduction by 2030, in line with a 1.5°C global warming scenario. We will continue to report our emissions publicly and seek to reduce our total carbon footprint in line with our Pledge to Net Zero commitment.