We are calculating our global carbon footprint to set one consolidated target
Computershare has made considerable efforts to reduce our carbon footprint over the years, particularly by minimising the energy used to operate our data centres and buildings, and focusing on paper consumption, travel, and recycling IT kit. We’ve always taken the view that effecting immediate change was more important than talking about potential future plans.
Aligned with this approach, historically, we’ve measured our carbon footprint on an office-by-office basis (where primary data has been available from landlords) and set targets for individual offices to help drive down energy use, water use and waste consumption.
In FY20, we decided to engage a third party, Climate Partner, to help us calculate our total carbon footprint, using secondary data where primary data isn’t available or where landlords simply don’t provide it. This allows us to set one consolidated target to reduce our carbon footprint globally. This target replaces all previous targets.
The results
Between January and December 2020, our business activities generated a total of 48,951.21* tonnes of CO2, 3.7% of which were Scope 1 emissions, 43.2% Scope 2 emissions and 53.1% Scope 3 emissions. Electricity procurement, employee commuting (or home-working) and paper use were the most emission-intensive activities and represent the largest share of our carbon footprint.
While no formal benchmarks exist, Computershare’s footprint is broadly in line with available data from similar financial services firms. Along with Climate Partner, we are performing detailed analysis to ensure our footprint remains in line or is better than firms with similar activities. In future years, we will be able to share a trend analysis based from this initial footprint.
We recognise that while we are in a low impact sector, we do use significant amounts of paper and electricity. In the next year, we expect to significantly increase our procurement of renewable energy and will be reviewing the types of paper we use. These two items represent the biggest opportunities for carbon reduction at Computershare.
It should be noted that 2020 was not a normal year from a business activity perspective, particularly with regard to business travel and commuting, so we expect to see some fluctuation in emissions numbers as these activities resume.
Our carbon reduction target
We will unveil our plans for carbon neutrality in the near future.
We’re also continuing our work with Climate Partner to create a carbon footprint view of our products and services. This will help our clients to make greener choices when commissioning our services.
Finally, we have increased the data available in our CDP submission and look forward to sharing our rating from that once available later this year.
*includes a 10% error margin