EmilyHolbrook

(Credit: Pixabay)
EY today announces an ambition to be carbon negative in 2021 by setting targets to significantly reduce its absolute emissions and removing and offsetting more carbon than it emits. In a recently released statement, EY set out the seven key components of its plans to not only become carbon negative but to reduce total emissions by 40% — consistent with a science-based target — and achieve net zero in 2025.
EY says its commitment to sustainability is an integral part of its NextWave strategy and ambition to create long-term value for all stakeholders. This new ambition builds on the global organization's achievement of carbon neutrality in December 2020 and underscores the EY commitment to the environment and to driving long-term, sustainable growth. Key elements of the ambition include:
- Reducing business travel emissions by 35% by FY25 against a FY19 baseline.
- Reducing overall office electricity usage and procuring 100% renewable energy for remaining EY needs, earning membership to the RE100, a group of influential organizations committed to renewable power, by FY25.
- Structuring electricity supply contracts, through virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs), to introduce more electricity than EY consumes into national grids.
- Providing EY teams with tools that enable them to calculate, then work to reduce, the amount of carbon emitted when carrying out EY client work.
- Using nature-based solutions and carbon-reduction technologies to remove from the atmosphere or offset more carbon than EY emits, every year.
- Investing in services and solutions that help EY clients profitably decarbonize their businesses and provide solutions to other sustainability challenges and opportunities.
- Requiring 75% of EY suppliers, by spend, to set science-based targets by no later than FY25.