Carbon Reduction Plan
Date Issued: August 2024
Date of Next Review: August 2025
Commitment to achieving Net Zero
Qolcom is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2035.
Baseline Emissions Footprint
Baseline Year: 2021 (calendar year)
Additional Details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations.
For the current reporting year, 2023 and any footprints for 2022 or earlier, we have updated the emissions calculations that relied on expenditure data. These calculations previously relied on a UK Government data set which has been discontinued. We have now applied the replacement UK Government data set, which we have been utilising for 2023 calculations and beyond. This means that the consistency of calculations has been improved but it may have led to an increase in the emissions for 2022 and earlier.
EMISSIONS/TOTAL (tCO2e)
Scope 1/10.13
Scope 2/2.64
Scope 3/110.83
(Included Sources)
– Purchased goods & services/62.2* (This relates to goods and services used in our operations. It does not include the goods sold to our customers. We will start reporting that data when it becomes available to us via the manufacturer of those goods.)
– Fuel and energy related activities/0.98
– Upstream transportation & distribution/8.68
– Waste generated in operations/0.27
– Business travel/5.84
– Employee commuting/32.87
– Downstream transportation & distribution/0.0 (All transportation classed as Upstream)
Total Emissions 123.6
Current Emissions Reporting: 2023 (calendar year)
EMISSIONS/TOTAL (tCO2e)
Scope 1/0.0
Scope 2/4.69
Scope 3/127.38
(Included Sources)
– Purchased goods & services/57.96* (This relates to goods and services used in our operations. It does not include the goods sold to our customers. We will start reporting that data when it becomes available to us via the manufacturer of those goods.)
– Fuel and energy related activities/8.56
– Upstream transportation & distribution/5.19
– Waste generated in operations/0.23
– Business travel/26.5
– Employee commuting/28.94
– Downstream transportation & distribution/0.0 (All transportation classed as Upstream)
Total Emissions 132.07
Emissions reduction targets
In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets.
We will seek to reduce total emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035 at the latest.
We will also monitor and seek ongoing reductions in the carbon intensity of the business
A summary of our progress to date is provided below:
Total Emissions
2021 – 123.6 tCO2e and 2023 – 132.07 tCO2e
change, last 12 months 18.3% and change since baseline 7.5%
Carbon Intensity
2021 – 11.2 tCO2e/£m turnover and 2023 – 5 tCO2e/£m turnover
change, last 12 months -58% and change since baseline -124%
Carbon Reduction Projects
Completed and Planned Carbon Reduction Initiatives
In recent years we have:
• reduced our building estate by 66% due to people opting to work from home which has had a significant reduction in electricity , water and cooling use – this happened in October 2023 so only 2 months are noticed in 2023 reporting
• installed LED lighting throughout our offices
• moved to a hybrid working model which will have reduced emissions from employee commuting
• implemented recycling of card, plastic, glass, metals and WEE wastes
• adopted a ‘Use of Transport’ policy to ensure sustainability in decisions about business travel
• switched to the use of 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper
• switched to the use of biodegradable cleaning materials in our offices
• provide environmental guidance and support to staff regarding home working arrangements, covering topics such as: efficiency of heating arrangements, LED lighting, powering down equipment, renewable energy tariffs
We have a comprehensive environmental policy and action plan in place for the business, with our progress monitored on an annual basis by Green Small Business.
Our environmental policy includes the following priorities:
Energy use
We will continue to seek ways of reducing the amount of energy used in our premises and by our staff in their homeworking environments.
Our action plan includes a range of actions to support achievement of this priority, including:
- introducing smart lighting, heating & cooling controls to maximise the efficiency of these systems in our offices
Travel & staff commuting
We will apply a principled approach to business travel decisions, avoiding travel where possible and using the most sustainable modes appropriate where travel cannot be avoided.
Our action plan includes a range of actions to support achievement of this priority, including:
• Continuing to maximise use of video-conferencing for meetings.
• Continuing to apply a ‘use of transport’ policy so that we consistently apply a principled approach to decisions about business travel.
We will promote more sustainable forms of transport to our staff, and facilitate their use.
Our action plan includes a range of actions to support achievement of this priority, including:
• Considering ways of incentivising car sharing for commuting
Our policy recognises however, that our most significant contribution to carbon emissions reductions comes via the services we deliver to our clients. The services we provide can and do play an important role in enhancing environmental outcomes for our clients. Advancing this will continue to be a key focus of our work. We will also further embed environmental considerations into the processes we use for determining our choices of products and suppliers used. We continue to liaise with our principal supplier regarding the availability of product carbon footprint data. Availability of this data will help to inform purchasing decisions and also allow inclusion of further Scope 3 categories in our carbon footprint calculations.
Declaration and Sign Off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting .
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard .
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).
Signed on behalf of Qolcom:
Keith Reading
Managing Director
Date: 7th August 2024
https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting