A climate action plan that treats our planet with respect
We’re working across our entire UK operation to reduce emissions and explore new ways to limit or reduce our impact on the environment
In 2021, we were the first in our industry to have our 2030 emissions goals validated by the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi). This goal will see us reduce our Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 60% by 2030 and our Scope 3 emissions by 30% within the same timeframe. These are important milestones as we move towards achieving net zero emissions by 2045 or sooner. Across our key global markets we continue to make good progress and in the UK we also continue to take significant steps in helping achieve this goal.
To ensure accuracy in reporting, we are expanding our plan to measure all emissions producing activities across our entire UK operations. This will include items as varied as refrigerant top-up data, to our employee commuting records.
We are also working with our landlords to obtain more accurate data, and encouraging our property management company to improve contractual terms in any lease we may secure, allowing us to accurately measure environmental impact and improve the EPC ratings of our leased properties.
Climate action plan
Our 2030 emissions goals are validated by the SBTi and also align with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, confirming our plans to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. In our Climate Action Plan, we focus on five levers to deliver impact at scale:
We continue to make progress on our climate action plan to reduce our emissions.
Our combined 2023 emissions have declined by 26% over the last year and have reduced by 35% based on a 2019 baseline.
These emissions have declined by 2% since 2022 and have declined by 35% compared to a 2019 baseline.
Our data collection process continues to improve and there have been methodology changes – for example, we did not include commuting data prior to 2021.
Addressing our Scope 3 emissions is a key priority. We are developing a new action plan for 2025 to allow us to better focus our activities in this space.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic ended, more of our staff have returned to the office. This has increased the number of employees commuting to work in 2023 – commuting emissions are up by 4% since 2022 – with the distance travelled rising by 8%.
However, despite these changes, we are still making progress to reduce the environmental impact of our transport usage.
Since childhood, I have always been deeply committed to protecting the environment. Our salary sacrifice scheme allows me to drive an electric car with the knowledge that I'm contributing to a greener, more sustainable future by taking such small incremental steps.
The return to work since Covid has also impacted our business travel: compared to 2022, our train travel was up 73%, air travel increased by 62% and grey fleet usage rose by 53% in 2023. [ManpowerGroup Global GHG emissions report].
We will continue to take active steps to promote lower emissions travel choices such as supporting public transport where appropriate. We are developing a new business travel policy to take effect from next year. [Data from commuting and travel analysis conducted by EcoAct]
