Our roadmap to net zero and complete decarbonisation in the UK and Ireland
In the UK & Ireland, we've committed to decarbonise our business by 90%, across all 3 scopes, and reach net zero by 2045. Hear the views of Sean Haley, Regional Chair of Sodexo UK & Ireland around our commitments.
We have now laid out our comprehensive roadmap to net zero and complete decarbonisation in the UK and Ireland. Hear the views of Sean Haley, Regional Chair of Sodexo UK & Ireland around our commitments.
This has been a hugely meticulous process, undertaken by a world-class team of sustainability experts. Their unswerving dedication to developing, not just a set of targets, but a detailed action plan to achieve them, gives me absolute confidence in our future ability to not just meet but to exceed these goals. This will enable us to continue to support and improve the communities in which we live, work and serve.
At Sodexo, we already have form when it comes to exceeding our carbon reduction targets.
Better Tomorrow
In 2017 we launched our Better Tomorrow Roadmap. At that time, we committed to reducing our Greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by 2025. This target, which was aligned to the Paris Agreement, was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative – or SBTi which scrutinised our target and agreed that this would have a real positive impact on curbing global temperature rise and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
Targets for 2025, 2030 and 2045
I am pleased to announce we have already exceeded that 34% target. So, we have set ourselves a new target to be Carbon Neutral in our direct operations by 2025.
The next step, however, will be to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions across all three scopes by 55% by 2030. When we talk about all three scopes, we include within that every single component of our business’ operations spanning our supply chain, all the way through to our client sites. And when you consider that we operate across more than 1,700 sites in the UK and Ireland – from offices and sports stadiums, to schools, hospitals, military bases and prisons – you can start to envisage the scale of this challenge.
By no later than 2045, we will have concluded a complete decarbonisation of the business, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 90% and neutralising any remaining emissions to reach net zero.
Social Impact
Social value has formed the heart of our operations since we were founded more than 50 years ago. Earlier this year we launched our Social Impact Pledge for 2021 and, as many of you will know, this focused on our four key impact pathways – Planet, People, Partners and Places.
We can only achieve these goals if we work in true partnership with our people, suppliers – big and small – and our clients. Lastly, for the Places where we operate, we recognise the disparity across our communities and are fully committed to the Levelling Up agenda. We see so many synergies between Levelling Up and net zero and so will be tackling these challenges in a joined-up way to ensure no communities are left behind as we move forward to a net zero world.
Our collective challenge
Let me finish by encouraging you all to do what the Science Based Targets initiative has done and really scrutinise our net zero target and the actions we are taking to get there. Ask questions, look at what other businesses are saying and by all means challenge us along the way where you see opportunities for improvement. This is simply too important for you to just take our word for it.
Net zero is a collective challenge for which we all need to take responsibility.
Hear more from Sean Haley, Regional Chair of Sodexo UK & Ireland around our commitments below: