Our Carbon Trust achievements
PwC UK has been working with the Carbon Trust since 2009, achieving certification for our carbon, water and waste practices, as well as for our supply chain work. In 2022 we achieved the 'Advancing' tier of their Route to Net Zero Standard.
Background
At PwC our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems and we are committed to drive a strong culture of quality and excellence that is core to our purpose.
We have a strong legacy of climate action, and use external benchmarking against established external bodies’ standards to help track our progress and to challenge ourselves to find innovative solutions and make continuous improvements.
Achievements through the years
In the UK we’ve been working with the Carbon Trust for many years, and in 2009 achieved their original Carbon Trust Standard, for measuring, managing and reducing our carbon emissions. In 2013 we were one of the first to achieve the Triple Standard for carbon, water and waste management, reducing our impact year on year, reflecting our leadership in managing our consumption of resources.
In 2015 we became one of a few UK businesses to ‘push the boundaries’ to achieve their challenging new Carbon Trust Supply Chain Standard (Level 2). In 2020 we went further, achieving Level 3 (the highest) reflecting our level of investment in this agenda, and the importance of our supplier relationships in helping us to deliver it. Read more about the work we’re doing on our sustainable supply chain work, here.
Becoming pathfinders
In early 2022 the Carbon Trust launched the Route to Net Zero Standard. This new certification is the only one to recognise an organisation’s progress on the journey to Net Zero. It is a multi-tiered certification that helps organisations measure and manage their emissions, inform carbon reduction strategies, and align targets for the future.
Our longstanding performance on carbon reduction qualified us to become one of ten ‘pathfinder’ organisations to commit to the new Route to Net Zero Standard, and to provide feedback on it.
The Route to Net Zero Standard supports participants as they create and deliver on their roadmaps to Net Zero, providing three tiers of certification: ‘Taking Action’, ‘Advancing’ and ‘Leading’.
In July 2022 we achieved the ‘Advancing’ tier of the Carbon Trust’s Route to Net Zero Standard. This confirms the progress we’ve made towards our 2030 Net Zero goals.
More specifically, the ‘Advancing’ level certificate confirms that we have:
- made science-aligned reductions in emissions*
- set a science-aligned reduction target
- implemented advancing carbon management practices
We were the first organisation to receive this level of certification in July 2022.
*Our assessment concluded that we’re certified as having reduced our Scope 1&2 carbon footprint by a minimum of 16% each year following the market-based approach on an absolute basis, from a 2019 baseline to 2021, which exceeds the required well-below two degrees science-based temperature pathway.
Extra Information
The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. From target setting, Net Zero pathway scoping, providing assurance and footprinting, to policy advice, strategy setting and programme delivery, the Carbon Trust provides businesses, governments and organisations around the world with solutions to the climate crisis.
For more detail see carbontrust.com/Route-to-Net-Zero-Standard
If you’d like to understand more about climate or sustainability governance for your organisation, please check out our ESG and Sustainability Risk service areas.
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