Sustainability Spotlight
Tell us more about the objectives you put in place to achieve a carbon neutral status? We focused on three key areas: Scope 1:Te direct emissions from sources we control including our offices and datacentres. Scope 2: Te indirect emissions from the energy that we consume. Scope 3: Te wider emissions, which occur outside of our operations, but which we caused to happen and are consequently responsible for. i.e., purchased goods and services, upstream and downstream supply chain, and employee commuting etc.
What else was integral to achieving this goal? Our point of view and strategy. Climate risk and Sustainability is more than a regulatory issue at QBS – it is recognised at Board level, is hardwired into our business model, our articles of association and thus the strategy of the entire organisation.
What steps have you taken? We have formalised processes, set targets, and have attributed responsibility. In fact, all of my co-workers’ job descriptions will now include environmental and society elements. It cannot be achieved at board level only. Despite our modest size and perceived low environmental impact, we are not aware of anyone else in our industry that is acting with the clarity of vision and speed of execution that we are. Including the climate impact of our extensive supply chain in our
carbon calculations is an incredibly difficult and time-consuming process for a company of our size – yet we want to demonstrate to others that it is possible. Our motto is “QBS – Where great people work together” and we
are taking the unique action of supporting and rewarding all of our global workforce to achieve a personal carbon neutral footprint, in line with their personal wishes and values. Most importantly we are trying to bring the entire industry with
us on this journey. We have invested in dedicated staff, specific budgets and carbon literacy training for our employees, customers and publishers. We also believe that this decision actually demonstrates
significant benefits to our business: cost and efficiency savings through reduced energy usage, compliance to anticipated future legislation, improved stakeholder management, and compliance with the most rigorous tender and pre-tender qualification questions. Above all, this increases transparency for our stakeholders
and demonstrates our core values of responsibility and good governance.
What about carbon neutrality and ‘offsetting’. Can you tell us more about this and the progress you have made here? Carbon offsetting is a controversial subject and is prone to greenwash. Buying carbon offsets is not permission to pollute. Companies must first have done what they can to reduce their environmental impacts. Tose emissions, which cannot be avoided can be/should be offset. Offsets can be used to help finance less well-off societies to decarbonise their impacts and improve livelihoods, as well as to support nature-based solutions
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to sequester carbon etc. It should be noted that whilst activities like tree planting can have a beneficial effect on the environment, if done right, they are not enough to claim carbon neutrality, since trees can take up to three decades to capture the carbon, might subsequently burn down, and in any event will release their carbon back to the atmosphere at end of life. At QBS we use only Gold Standard VER (Verified Emission Reduction) offsets from a reputable company.
How does the QBS Climate Change Narrative support people, planet and profit? We believe that profit is our reward for serving society well, not the aim in and of itself with no regard to the rest of society and the environment. We aim to create sustainable long-term stakeholder value, in a sustainable way, i.e. not to take from future generations or leave them with the negative consequences of our actions.
What of QBS’ actions and achievements? We have been BS EN ISO14001:2004 certified since May 2019. We have voluntarily provided environmental disclosure in our
annual company audited accounts in compliance with Section 172 (1) (a) to (f) of the Companies Act 2006 since 2020. We have dedicated personnel and dedicated iNED representation
for sustainability and our iNED leads our group community giveback. In April 2021 our Group CEO formally signed our official
Pledge to Net Zero in conjunction with IEMA/SocEnv/EIC/WSP/ AECOM. In June 2021 we were independently verified as net carbon
neutral as defined by PAS 2060:2010. In June 2021 we published Version 1.0 of our Carbon Footprint
Management Plan (CFMP). Tis will subsequently be updated quarterly by our Sustainability officer and reductions should comply with EN16001. In 2021 we submitted our application to become a Beneficial
Corporation (B Corp) with a very high score and expect to be certified in the first half of 2022.
https://bcorporation.net/
What are the long-term commitments at QBS? We will adopt absolute, not efficiency targets. We will improve our data quality from 82% to 90% by 2023. We will continue to constantly seek initiatives to decarbonise our
supply chain. We will publicly disclose our footprint and progress on our
energy use and carbon emissions reduction in compliance with SECR in our annual accounts. We aim to comply with the TCFD - Task Force on Climate-
related Financial Disclosure. We will address 9 of the 17 the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). We will achieve and maintain B Corp (Beneficial Corporation)
status. By 2025 we will have eradicated, through gold standard offsets,
our estimated entire historical carbon footprint. Stevinson signed off, saying: “We will correct, prevent and repay. Tus eradicating our entire historical carbon footprint by 2025.”
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