Environment
The integration of environmentally sustainable activities is a key part of our decision-making as a business.
Our focus is on increasing our resource efficiency and minimising our negative impact on the environment. It is important for us to constantly review and report on our performance and we also want to promote a culture of environmental awareness throughout our organisation.
Our Net Zero Journey
As a firm we have publicly committed to reducing our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 50% of our 2018 levels by 2025. Over the past 12 months, we have continued to work with our people and external stakeholders to assist us in the delivery of the key measures required to achieve our carbon reduction goals. We can report a 23.7% reduction in our Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions compared to our 2018 levels. However, we have seen a 106% increase in our carbon emissions when compared to last year. This significant increase is primarily attributed to an increase in travel by our people post pandemic. With a return of our people to our office, there was an expected associated increase in energy emissions.
As we progress on our Net Zero Journey, we are cognisant that as a firm we need to continue to educate our people on how we all can contribute to the reduction of our carbon footprint as an organisation. To address this, we are working hard to explore alternatives so that we can provide more sustainable options through enforced travel policy restrictions, highly managed online meetings, events and other operations. Our calculations are based on the Location Based Method (LBM).
We remain committed to our ambitious carbon footprint reduction targets, for Scopes 1, 2 and 3. Last year our carbon reduction targets were formally validated as science based by the Science Based Targets Initiative. The SBTi mobilises companies to set science-based targets and boost their competitive advantage in the transition to the low-carbon economy. We completed our Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) response in 2022, formally disclosing our climate change impacts for 2021 and our response confirmation can be viewed here. The CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. It is a system that has resulted in unparalleled engagement on environmental issues worldwide. It is the world’s most comprehensive dataset, and its data fuels and tracks global progress towards building a truly sustainable economy for people and planet.
Update on Safe Water Project – CO2balance UK
As part of our Net Zero journey, we are pleased to continue our partnership with CO2balance UK and to invest in projects that help communities in Zambia while neutralising our own carbon footprint. In 2022 we reported how we offset 100% of the firm’s 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 carbon footprint by investing in CO2balance’s Zambia Safe Water Project. In June 2023 we invested in a further 2,035 credits to neutralise our carbon footprint for 2022. The Zambia Safe Water Project is located in the Lundazi District of Zambia where, to consume safe water, communities must purify water collected from unclean sources by boiling it over fires fuelled by firewood, resulting in the release of carbon emissions. CO2balance works with its local partner, Reformed Open Community Schools, to rehabilitate broken boreholes to deliver safe water to rural communities and thereby reduce or eliminate the need to burn firewood from a water purification perspective. CO2balance develops projects under Gold Standard certification.
We are pleased to have received this update from Paul Chiplen, our contact at C02balance, who keeps us updated annually on the significant benefits the Safe Water Project is delivering to the local community in the Lundazi district:
“The Eastern Zambia Safe Water project has completed Phases 1 and 2, currently with 106 boreholes successfully rehabilitated and delivering safe water. A third expansion is underway, with an additional 56 boreholes being incorporated into project. Since August 2022, every borehole community involved in this project has received WASH trainings (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene), been visited in person on a quarterly basis for a general check-up and feedback session, undergone water quality testing, routine chlorination, as well as had handpump maintenance where needed.
A site visit was undertaken in September 2022 to audit a random selection of Phase 1 and 2 boreholes, the latter of which was rehabilitated in August 2022. The trip was hugely positive, with excellent community feedback about the impacts the project has had to date. We took the opportunity to visit local authority offices, notably the Water Quality Department, who informed us how appreciated our work is in monitoring water quality for the communities and how much it has improved since the project started.
During this trip an Area Pump Minder training programme was established. A group of community men and women within project communities were approached to receive formal training to become ‘Pump Minders’, the local name for technicians who conduct borehole maintenance. They will receive formal training and support for the lifetime of the project, begin conducting handpump maintenance across the project boreholes for a steady income and gain the experience to be well equipped to help continue supporting rural communities once the project funding has ended.
We are also in discussions to establish an additional “Carbon+” aspect to the project to help tackle human-wildlife conflict with a local charity actively working in the project area, notably with elephants as the project overlaps with National Parks. Discussions remain in the early stages, but we hope this will form a promising partnership and help further impact the local communities.”
Energy Efficiency
We remain committed to efficient energy usage at our offices at Ten Earlsfort Terrace. When compared to our 2018 baseline, we have reduced our Scope 1 direct emissions from purchased gas and fuels by approximately 52% and our Scope 2 indirect emissions from purchased energy (electricity) by approximately 11%. Our gas emissions are down 8% this year, however our electricity emissions are up 21% compared to 2021. Despite this increase in electricity emissions, which is due to an increased number of our people returning to the office, we are pleased to have maintained our ISO5001:2018 Energy Management accreditation from Certification Europe following a successful audit in May 2022. Our next surveillance audit is due in November 2023.
Minimising our Waste
We are pleased to report we have again achieved Zero Waste to Landfill for 2023 certification (July 2022 to June 2023) in relation to all our waste streams generated onsite at Ten Earlsfort Terrace. This certification confirms that all waste generated on-site is diverted from landfill. These waste streams include:
- Mixed Municipal (general waste)
- Mixed Dry Recycling
- Food and Compost
- Confidential Paper (shredding)
- Used Cooking Oil (generated in our restaurant kitchens)
This certification was achieved through a number of measures taken to ensure the close management of our on-site waste including:
PRINTING Not surprisingly, with our people now back in the office, our paper consumption has increased accordingly. While our indirect emissions for 2022 in relation to paper consumption have been reduced by 65% compared to our 2018 baseline, over the past year, there has been an increase of 21% in paper usage.
CATERING We continue to engage with our catering supplier, Gather & Gather, to emphasise our commitment to becoming a more sustainable firm and to fulfil our carbon reduction commitments. Gather & Gather has its own Sustainability Working Group that has a passion for fresh, healthy food and takes pride in supporting local growers within its supply chain.
In April 2023, Gather & Gather introduced a food waste reduction system, Carbon Positive, in our main kitchen. This system enables Gather & Gather to capture all food waste being generated. This helps to allow us to make better informed decisions on food waste reduction. Monitors are used to capture the waste generated throughout the day and to track left-over food. This ensures not only that waste is correctly segregated and reduced, but also increases efficiencies in the purchase and preparation of food, ultimately resulting in less waste. Since introduction the project has already delivered 100kg reduction in the waste generated at our site.
Partnerships and Education
Arthur Cox Green Week
To celebrate World Environment Day and EU Green Week earlier this year, we hosted our own ‘Arthur Cox Green Week’ to raise awareness of environmental issues and to educate our people further. A wide range of activities included an eco-friendly fashion event, a plant-based cuisine demonstration and engagement with local biodiversity via yoga in the park. We also held an informative talk for the firm on how individuals can implement more environmentally sustainable ways in day-to-day life. Discussions took place on what happens to our waste, why it is important to recycle correctly, and how to properly segregate waste. The week-long schedule of activities proved both informative, education and fun for our people.
Green Team Network
We continue to participate with representation on the Green Team Network (GTN) Steering Committee. GTN is a forum for connecting and empowering change towards a sustainable environment within the Irish Funds industry. It aims to facilitate the connection of firms and staff to enable knowledge sharing across the industry and support the implementation of collective campaigns. The Green Team Network’s focus for 2023 is to continue to work closely with members to establish roundtable discussions to share and collaborate on the development of their decarbonisation strategies.