Taking action to reduce our carbon footprint

Taking responsibility for our environmental impact means not only measuring and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, but also addressing those emissions that we currently cannot avoid. As part of this approach, we have purchased 20 tCO₂e of Pending Issuance Units (PIUs), linked to a native woodland restoration project in the Scottish Highlands.

Measuring our carbon footprint

We measure our carbon footprint on an annual basis. Our approach to measuring our footprint considers the emissions associated with our operational activities, helping us to build a clearer picture of our environmental impact and where further action is needed.

We recognise that measuring our emissions is an ongoing process. As our data and understanding improve, we can continue to refine our footprint and identify further opportunities for reduction.

Reducing our emissions

Our priority is to reduce emissions associated with our operations wherever possible. Over recent years, we have made changes to the way we operate that have helped to reduce our environmental impact. These include moving to a remote working model, reducing the need for office energy use and employee commuting, and taking a more selective approach to business travel.

We have also reduced our reliance on printed materials. Rather than routinely sending physical membership packs, we provide information digitally to members. The environmental SCIENTIST journal is also available to read digitally through the Members Portal.

Alongside these operational changes, we are developing an updated Environmental Management Strategy, providing a framework for continuing to improve our environmental performance and improve our data collection.

Unavoidable emissions

While reducing emissions remains our priority, our footprint includes emissions that we currently consider unavoidable. To take responsibility for these emissions while continuing to work towards further reductions, we have purchased 20 tCO₂e of Pending Issuance Units (PIUs). This accounts for the emissions associated with our organisational activity over the last five years. 

The project

Our PIUs have been purchased from Highland Carbon's Loch Ness Forest project, a native woodland restoration project located to the south of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The project involves the planting of 100,000 native trees across 92 hectares and is managed as a nature reserve. It has been validated under the Woodland Carbon Code, with the PIUs intended to become Woodland Carbon Units. 

By supporting the project, we are contributing to woodland creation and carbon sequestration, while also supporting wider benefits for biodiversity and the restoration of native woodland habitats.

Our contributions to climate action

Purchasing PIUs is one part of our wider approach to climate action, and it does not replace the need to reduce our emissions. Our focus will remain on identifying and implementing practical measures to reduce our footprint, improving the quality of our emissions data and continuing to embed environmental responsibility across the organisation. By measuring, reducing and taking responsibility for the emissions we currently cannot avoid, we aim to make meaningful and measurable progress towards reducing our environmental impact.

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 Network and Climate Action for Associations, further demonstrating our dedication to supporting climate action.

Our Climate Action Community is a challenge-led Community focused 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. We would like to thank members of the Climate Action Community for their assistance in providing recommendations for taking responsibility for our unavoidable carbon emissions.