Reducing the emissions from running the pension fund
This goal covers our emissions as an organisation, not our investments.
We said...
By 2030, we aim to reduce the Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% per full-time employee, relative to our GHG emissions in 2022-2023. We use Planet Mark to calculate our operational emissions from data we provide. This calculation covers pro-rata use of utilities, waste and paper usage as well as business travel by our CEO and Chair.
The April 2021 – March 2022 Planet Mark accreditation report can be found on our website. As this data was gathered while the UK was still under lockdown restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will use the 2022-2023 figure as the starting year for our target, as we expect this will be a more accurate reflection of normal working life. In 2022-2023, the data collected will also be expanded to include all travel for all colleagues on LPFA business. This will include LPFA employees, members of the LPFA Board and members of the Local Pension Board (LPB). Our main areas of focus are our office, our travel and our suppliers.
Our office
LPFA sublets 2,607 square feet of office space in the London Fire Brigade’s 117,584 square foot offices in Union Street, London. Planet Mark estimates that gas and electricity in our office makes up over 90% of our operational emissions. LPFA will collaborate with other tenants, including the London Fire Brigade and the Greater London Authority, to improve the energy efficiency of the building. If substantial improvements by the landlord are not forthcoming or are not possible in this building, we will plan to move to alternative accommodation.
Our travel
By June 2023, we will publish a policy setting out our approach to business travel for staff, LPFA Board members and LPB members. The policy will aim to reduce our GHG emissions from travel while maintaining our ability to operate effectively.
Our suppliers
The net-zero policies of all suppliers with whom we spend over £10,000 per year are summarised on our website. By June 2023, we will set out our procurement policy which will seek to ensure that all suppliers we work with:
- Have made a net zero commitment; and
- Have committed to regular annual reporting on the above commitment.
Our suppliers’ GHG emissions represent Scope 3 emissions, so fall outside our formal target. However, we will seek to influence suppliers as much as possible as a way of driving real-world emissions reductions.
Where are we now?
We have been recertified by the Planet Mark for the fourth year running.
Based on 20 staff, our 2022-23 baseline emissions are 1.31tCo2e with total office emissions of 26.4tCo2e. Most of our emissions come from our office (11.3tCo2e) and travel (14.9tCo2e). We have travelled more in 2022 and, while it tends to be domestic travel, our CEO has made several international flights over the past year as part of our work with C40 Cities. It is our view that our travel habits in 2022-23 largely represents business as usual so we are now able to develop a net-zero travel policy in 2024.
In 2023, we recruited a Chief Legal Officer who is now working on the development of our procurement policy and progress. Our first travel policy will be published in due course.
We began working with the Planet Mark when the LPFA comprised 5 people. Now that we have over 20 employees, we will need to review if accreditation by the Planet Mark remains appropriate.