CARBON FOOTPRINT REPORT FOR 2017-2018
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ACH Consulting has produced the following Carbon Footprint Report for the April 2017 – March 2018 financial year. A carbon footprint is a valuable use of data available within the business to quantify carbon emissions during a specific year. This is then related back to our previous years to inform trends and analysis.
ACH emitted a total of 105.88 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) for the financial year of 2017-2018, being equivalent to approximately 3.5 tCO2e per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employee. This is a reduction of 9.3% on last year’s carbon dioxide emission per full time equivalent employee. Over the previous 4 years since monitoring of our carbon footprint commenced our overall carbon emissions have stayed reasonably static alongside an increase in staff of 23% and an increase in turnover of 30.4%. Ultimately, we are becoming a more efficient organisation.
During the 2017-2018 financial year, the largest emissions of carbon dioxide were attributed to transport. This is on trend with previous reports and continues to be an area to focus on.
The report includes recommendations of ways in which ACH can work to reduce the emissions for transport and electricity, which are the main leading carbon sources. It also provides recommendations to better track carbon emissions going forward. These recommendations include:
1. Continue to measure and report the carbon emissions regularly, and to include data on waste-to-landfill in future year’s carbon tracking datasets.
2. Ensure vehicle fleet is properly maintained to optimise fuel economy and gas emissions, including regular services for vehicles. When fleet is expanded or upgraded, ensure carbon emissions play a considerable part in purchasing decisions.
3. Develop a low carbon strategy to identify and prioritise objectives, targets and a programme of action to reduce our key carbon emissions. This is best presented in the form of a sustainability report which also collates other social and environmental initiatives and aspects of our business.