Reading Room becomes Certified Carbon Neutral

Over the past few months we have been working with Carbon Neutral Britain to offset our carbon emissions, through the support of industry verified sustainability initiatives, focussing on renewable energy projects. This extensive process involved the full calculation of our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, followed by the offsetting of these emissions via the Carbon Neutral Britain Climate Fund. All of the offsetting projects we chose to support are supported by either Verra - Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the Gold Standard - Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) or the United Nations - Certified Emission Reductions (CER) programmes

Whilst we already have initiatives in place to reduce our carbon emissions, such as only conducting business travel when absolutely necessary, and having energy efficient office spaces, the offsetting process means that we are able to mitigate our environmental impact for the areas that are a little harder to reduce and control.

How are carbon emissions calculated?

Using the ISO 14064 and GHG Emissions Protocol Standards, business emissions are identified using three scopes of emissions:

• Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): Activities owned or controlled by the organisation that release emissions straight into the atmosphere. An example of this would be gas usage.

• Scope 2 (Energy Indirect): Emissions being released into the atmosphere associated with the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling. An example of this would be electricity usage.

• Scope 3 (Other Indirect): Emissions that are a consequence of business activity. For digital organisations this is often the highest scope, as it includes business travel, team member commuting, and inbound/outbound deliveries.

This standard of calculation, ensures all bases are covered, and increases the accuracy of emissions calculation. As a digital business, our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions covered nothing more than our office energy usage, and we were delighted to see that our scope 3 emissions were below industry average. You can explore our full emissions report here.

How did we offset our emissions?

It was important to us that our offsetting efforts had an immediate impact. One of the most common offsetting initiatives involves planting trees, however there is no guarantee that a forest will be permeant, or well-managed, and reforestation does not reduce global demand for fossil fuels.

As a result, we chose to offset via Carbon Neutral Britain's Climate Fund, which is supports wind, solar, and hydro projects across the globe. These projects aim to provide lasting environmental, social and economic benefits to developing countries, and are independently validated to a AAA standard, meaning they really are the best of the best.

Some of the project we support:

• Wind Power in Karnataka, India: 'By displacing non-renewable fossil fuel-based electricity generation, this project significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It also fosters local economic development by creating approximately 2,000 jobs during its construction and operation.'
• Elazig Solar Farm, Turkey: 'By providing clean, renewable energy to the Turkish National Grid, it helps reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. This project not only cuts carbon emissions but also contributes to economic stability by reducing energy costs. It serves as a model for future solar energy projects, promoting sustainable energy solutions in Turkey.'
• Salkhit Wind Farm, Mongolia: 'The country’s first grid-connected wind farm. This pioneering project generates renewable electricity and supplies it to the Mongolian central grid. Beyond reducing carbon emissions, it builds technical expertise in renewable energy, laying the groundwork for future green projects in a region with extreme temperature variations.'

The digital sector is one that is often overlooked in sustainability discussions, however the amount of emissions produced by the industry is increasing year on year. The offsetting of our carbon emissions is an exciting step forward in our suitability journey, and we are proud to be contributing towards the reduction of emissions within the tech/digital sector. With the introduction of our Carbon Reduction Plan, we are determined to reduce our emissions even further, in coming months and years.