At Equals Money, we’re committed to minimising the impact of our operations on the environment. With the help of C Free, an environmental consultancy, we’re proud to say we’re officially carbon neutral.
We’ve worked hard to achieve this, but we also understand that we have a long way to go. This is by no means the end of our sustainability journey, and using C Free, we'll continue to evaluate and take concrete steps to reduce and offset our carbon emissions as our company continues to grow.
Every action that a person or business makes produces Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, including commuting, office lighting and heating, and even card transactions in stores. These emissions contribute to the greenhouse effect, which causes the planet to warm up beyond its normal fluctuations. This warming in turn causes extreme weather events which can kick off dangerous tipping points. At Equals Money, we decided it was time to do something about our own emissions.
With C Free’s assistance, we calculated our scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
We included GHG emissions from our office, the production and distribution of our cards, purchased goods and services, business travel, working from home, employee commuting, packaging, waste, and water to name a few.
An important first step for us as a company is to look to reduce our carbon footprint.
We’ve already taken several steps towards becoming environmentally conscious. We’ve switched our office lighting to timers, implemented a cycle to work scheme, switched to renewable energy sources for our offices, implemented a travel policy to reduce the number of trips by restricting the budget and number trips employees can take per year, replaced plastic bottles with reusable ones, and implemented a hybrid work policy where applicable to reduce emissions from workforce commuting.
We’ve also set out targets for the future in order to keep in line with science based targets and below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. We’ve committed to a reduction target of 21% of scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 emissions from 2021 to 2026.
Our strategy for reducing our emissions includes: issuance of virtual cards to replace physical plastic cards, implementation of a train-first policy, an ongoing strict recycling policy in offices, implementing a digital-first policy by switching to digital sales collateral and forms, cloud hosting, and ongoing purchase of credible carbon offsets.
As well as our ambitious reduction targets and strategy, we have supported projects to balance and offset our unavoidable carbon footprint.
Carbon offsetting is a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by funding projects that either remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent it from being produced in the first place. With C Free’s assistance, we’ve offset our carbon footprint that falls under our operational control. This work is taking place alongside our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. Equals Money PLC has purchased and retired 537 tonnes of Gold Standard VERS on 5/12/2022 for the reporting period of 1/1/2021 to 31/12/2021.* These credits offset the emissions from our business operations, making us carbon neutral.
These projects range from reforestation to renewable energy, and they help to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, offsetting the emissions we produce. Equals Money specifically supports a wind power plant in Turkey to offset our business operations emissions. Reducing and offsetting our carbon emissions is one step to help us operate and grow in a sustainable way.
We understand that carbon offsetting isn’t the sole solution for a more sustainable future. We need to be working on this from every possible angle, reducing what we have control over while supporting projects that also help the planet.
Our CEO, Ian Strafford-Taylor, says, “We recognise our responsibility to take a proactive approach towards minimising our environmental impact and achieving carbon neutrality across our operations. Ensuring we continue to grow sustainably is in the best interest of the company, our customers, and the greater community around us. We know our work is far from finished, and Equals Money will continue to evaluate our impact on the environment as we move forward. We’re excited to build out our sustainability strategy, with carbon neutrality a key piece of the puzzle.”
*Certificates for carbon neutrality have been issued to Equals Money PLC, a part of Equals Group PLC
We’re proud to have achieved carbon neutrality through our partnership with C Free. It’s important for businesses and organisations to take responsibility for their environmental impact and to work towards a more sustainable future.
However, whilst we celebrate our efforts thus far, it’s equally crucial to acknowledge the work we have remaining. We’re not perfect, but by constantly listening to experts and evaluating and mitigating our impact, we can keep building out our sustainability journey.
If you have any questions about our environmental impact or how we can help your business minimise your carbon emissions, get in touch today.
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