CARBON FOOTPRINT REPORT FOR 2016-2017
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ACH Consulting has produced the following Carbon Footprint report for the April 2016 – March 2017 financial year. A carbon footprint is a valuable use of data that is available within the business, and quantifies the carbon emissions that an organisation has produced during a specific year. This is then related back to our base year (2014-2015) to inform trends and analysis.
ACH emitted a total of 62.52 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) for the full 2016-2017 financial year. This equated to 2.2 tCO2e per Full Time Equivalent employee. These results show an 18% reduction in emissions per FTE from the baseline year of 2014-2015 when ACH originally commenced carbon emissions tracking. Over the previous 3 years, since commencing the monitoring of our carbon footprint, overall emissions volumes have stayed reasonably static regardless of a 20% increase in staff numbers and more than a 70% increase in turnover.
During the 2016-2017 the largest emissions source that ACH produced resulted from the use of company cars (Diesel and then Petrol), which is in line with all previous years.
This report has included ideas which ACH are exploring to help reduce emissions from vehicle use and create efficiencies through planning and education of staff. Priority recommendations have also been identified to assist ACH to continuously improve their approach to measuring and managing their carbon footprint. These include:
1. Continue to measure our carbon footprint and establish data collection processes for those data points excluded from the 2016-2017 financial year footprint;
2. Increase the accuracy and comprehensiveness of our carbon footprint by undertaking an annual waste audit to identify waste to landfill carbon emissions;
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.