At the start of this year SCS recognised the rising impact that our certification activities may be having on the environment and utilising the methodologies enshrined in ISO14064, PAS2060 and the Energy Institutes guidance on carbon management planning, we have now established our organisation’s baseline emissions with the aim to improve our environmental effectiveness.
All of our operations were considered as in scope, although we have had to omit our office consumable supplies from our Scope 3 Emission calculations as their supply chain is fragmented and any assumptions would prove unreliable.
In order to monitor our performance over time and provide a client focused measure, the key output was a GHG Intensity Ratio of 14.68 kg CO2e per client audit day. Over the next year we will be planning effectively to reduce emissions associated with travel to client sites.
As compensation for our total tCO2e emissions detailed in our 2022 Annual Environmental Report, we are investing in both Peatland restoration and UK woodland creation projects through Forest Carbon.
80% of the investment is in UK woodland projects that will capture CO2, conserve the natural habitat, and increase biodiversity. 20% of the investment is in Peatland restoration of degraded bog habitat, increasing the ability of the peatland to store water, support wildlife and mitigate the risk of flooding downstream, as well as reducing GHG emissions from the degraded peatlands which are currently in excess of 23 million tonnes per year: around 5% of the UK’s total carbon footprint.
The Projects SCS have supported are located across Scotland and England and are validated by the Woodland Carbon Code & the Peatland Code.
This is only the start of our Carbon reduction journey, and we hope our current and future clients join us in investing in the collective reduction, removal and avoidance of carbon emissions. This is a verifiable way of demonstrating impact reduction as required by the Environmental Management Systems Standard, ISO 14001.
Find out more about how our certification services can help your organisation by visiting our 14001 page on our website.
