The IES Carbon Footprint explained

As signatories to the Pledge to Net Zero initiative, the IES staff team have been hard at work collecting the data needed to calculate our current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The data covers as many aspects of our operations as we can accurately determine across all three scopes as defined by the GHG Protocol.

• “Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions occurring from sources that are owned or controlled by the company, for example, emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, furnaces, vehicles, etc.; emissions from chemical production in owned or controlled process equipment.” 
• “Scope 2: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam.”
• “Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities (e.g. transportation and distribution losses) not covered in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.”

Our baseline year falls between April 2019 and March 2020. This time period was chosen as our baseline as it is the most recent timeframe that affords us a full set of reliable data for as many categories as possible within our organisational and operational boundaries. As a small team of 7 full-time staff and 5 part-time staff, our organisational boundary is relatively limited. We do not own or control any processing or producing operations or facilities. We recycle as much as we can including our food, plastics and metals, ink cartridges and batteries, and we purchase second-hand and recycled goods over new products for office supplies and furniture. We operate out of one office, which uses a 100% renewable energy tariff and has no gas in the property, with electric central heating. We do not have any company-owned vehicles and encourage our staff, Council and volunteers to use public transport where possible for business travel. 

Whilst not an exhaustive list, the diagram below is indicative of the categories that the IES is accountable for within our organisational boundary.

Of those within boundary, we have sufficient data to calculate an estimation of our current emissions and set targets for 8 categories. As part of this process and the ongoing reporting, we will endeavour to improve our data collection processes for these, and for the remaining categories within our organisational and operational boundaries that we currently do not have sufficient data for. 

Our Carbon Footprint (1st February 2024 – 31st January 2025) 

Scope 1

At the time of writing, we do not have sufficient data on our air conditioning units and refrigerator unit within the office; we are producing Scope 1 GHG emissions but we cannot calculate these accurately at this stage.

Scope 2

As we are running our operations using a 100% renewable energy tariff, we do not produce GHG emissions under Scope 2, which includes our heating system (electric central heating), as there is no gas or fuel consumption in the property. However, under the Government's 'Environmental reporting guidelines', we are required to report Scope 2 electricity emissions using a location-based grid average emissions factor. The location-based emissions reflect the average emission of the grid where the energy consumption occurs and is calculated using these UK Electricity grid average factors. Therefore, our Scope 2 emissions total to 0.65 tCO₂e based on our consumption in this period, this is a 33% reduction from last year’s figures.

Scope 3

Scope 3 emissions make up nearly 87% of our total carbon footprint. Based on the available data, we calculated our Scope 3 emissions at 4.26 tCO₂e for the 2024 reporting period (February 1, 2024 – January 31, 2025). This year, we expanded our assessment to include hotel stays and homeworking. Despite these additions, we achieved a 20% reduction compared to last year’s figures. This decline is likely due to our shift toward online and virtual event attendance, the digitisation of our operations, and a reduction in business travel.

What does our carbon footprint mean?

In 2024, our total carbon footprint was 4.91 tCO₂e  - but what does that actually mean? To put it into perspective, each member of the IES contributed approximately 0.6 kgCO₂e. That’s roughly equivalent to boiling a kettle or taking a 10-minute car journey. Another way to translate our carbon footprint would be to convert it into an action that you complete. Our total carbon footprint of 4.91 tCO₂e is the equivalent to the electricity consumption of 3 average households for a year or a return flight in economy from London to New York. 

For a full account of how these data are split into different categories within each scope, please send a request to the Education & Professional Development Officer. A full report of our emissions and progress towards our targets will be available towards the end of the year, in line with our pledge.

Our contributions to Climate Action

We are proud to be a signatory to the UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now initiative, committing to reducing our carbon emissions. Additionally, we have joined the Professional Bodies Climate Action Charter, further demonstrating our dedication to supporting climate action. Our Climate Action Community is a challenge-led Community focussed on championing the work of professionals in the environmental sciences in climate action, promoting the work of experts and evidence around climate change and driving change to ensure adaptation and mitigation measures are accurate, ambitious and achievable. The Community champions interdisciplinary working and a systems approach to the interlinked crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. 

To do your part, why not open the discussions with your organisation around pledging to Net Zero?

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