Mace, the international construction and consultancy company, has announced that it has achieved its ambition to be a net zero carbon business in 2020.
Following the statement in January 2020 that the company had committed to the ambitious target, the executive board has confirmed that after driving down its carbon emissions as far as possible across its developments and operations it has offset the remaining emissions. The business has also set out its new targets as part of its 2026 business strategy which is due to be launched in February.
Today’s announcement includes a 50% reduction in Mace’s carbon emissions across the year, achieved through a variety of trials and solutions including a 75% increase in renewable energy, a 75% reduction in business travel emissions, a ban on diesel generators and an increase in the use of cement alternatives.
The outstanding carbon emissions have been offset through investment projects led by Carbon Footprint Ltd, a UK sustainability consultancy with a portfolio of Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) programmes across the globe. The offsets have been divided across six international programmes that provide solutions to climate change.
They include decarbonising electricity grids through solar power and wind farms in India, providing support and equipment to remote communities in Africa to improve their energy efficiency, reducing deforestation in Brazil and supporting reforestation in the UK.
Mace has additionally offset estimated carbon emissions associated with its employees moving to home working as a result of the global pandemic.
Mark Reynolds, Group Chief Executive at Mace, said: “I’m delighted that we have realised our ambition in the same year that we set our target. My hope is that our net zero carbon position will inspire the industry to take greater action as a whole. Only by working together, sharing our learning and supporting each other’s efforts will we make the difference that’s needed.”
Mace made its carbon reduction strategy – Steps without Footprints – publicly available last year to support the industry in its efforts and recently announced its latest pledge, this time to ‘SteelZero’. In the next few weeks, the company will release its follow up report on how it halved its carbon emissions in one year and set out its future ambitions.
Mark Reynolds added: “Our journey doesn’t end here. Our commitment to sustainability sits front and centre of our new five-year business strategy. We have new, tougher targets that will see us reduce our carbon footprint by 10% each year and deliver biodiversity net gain with the creation of 500 hectares of new habitat. Equally, in 2021, we will look beyond our own footprint and continue to support and measure helping our clients reduce their carbon footprint and scope 3 emissions.”
