JUST GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2020
38
environment
We have an important role in helping the world transition towards a sustainable environment and low carbon global economy
FOUNDATIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
MODERNISING OUR WORKPLACE, SUPPORTING OUR COLLEAGUES AND CUSTOMERS, AND RECOGNISING OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SOCIETY BY REDUCING OUR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT We accelerated our investment to create a modern and sustainable workplace, equipping all our colleagues across the Group with improved technology, improving our infrastructure and security so we could provide resilient remote working capabilities. Our progress towards attaining a complete modern workplace provides opportunities to use our buildings more efficiently, make additional reductions to our property footprint and continue to improve energy efficiency to further reduce our environmental impact. Digitising and optimising processes has reduced our paper usage and helped us better serve our vulnerable customer base. The actions we took to reduce our property footprint in 2019 and our decision this year to switch our electricity at our head office to a 100% renewable tariff, has resulted in our Scope 1 and 2 (gas and electricity) emissions reducing by 69%1 whilst remaining fully operational across all sites. We have commissioned a further energy audit to identify additional areas of improvement. We’ve used technology to digitise processes which has allowed us to scale back our business travel and significantly improve our Scope 3 position. Greater levels of engagement with our colleagues has occurred via focused workshops to elicit ideas and future participation in our modern workplace improvement programmes. We recognise environmental impact and climate change among the key risks to our business and society and the impact it has on economic stability, ecology and vulnerable communities. We are committed to making positive changes in how we operate our business to reduce our impact on the environment. We have reported on all of the emission sources required under The Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018, which includes the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (“SECR”) requirements. These sources fall within our Annual Report.
We accelerated the investment in our modern workplace to help our colleagues respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and bring forward the positive impact of emission reductions, which in total fell by 75% during 2020 1
1 Does not include any allowance for carbon emissions generated by colleagues working from home during this period.
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