Launching Net Zero Trailfinder

Starting in the New Year, we’ll be offering a new Net Zero service package for getting organisations started on their Net Zero journey. 

For more information, have a look at our updated Net Zero page and our new Net Zero Services Overview brochure. We also have a text only version of the Net Zero Services Overview here.

Webinar – “Embarking On Your Net Zero Strategy”

We ran a webinar for Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce on embarking on your Net Zero Strategy. Our goal for this webinar was to help make the journey to Net Zero feel achievable rather than overwhelming. From our survey results (see below) and the feedback we received, we’ve been successful! 

We’ll be taking this format forward to help our clients and our wider networks engage with their supply chain via free taster sessions designed to help businesses feel more confident that they’re up to the challenge of planning for Net Zero. If you think you (or someone in your network) would benefit from this, please feel free to reach out!

COP30 – Where do we go from here…?

The COP30 in Brazil last month was framed as Ambition and Action,  instead it was Power and Politics, and against the background of growing global disunity and breakdown of consensus around climate change and the actions required.

30 years ago, the COP process was a response to the Environmental Emergency, which evolved into the Humanitarian Emergency, as an overstretched planet will diminish the livelihoods of 99% of citizens, especially those most vulnerable.

Now, with the latest global warming trending towards 1.5°C and recent impacts of extreme heat, flooding, and drought are affecting the economic systems that support our daily lives;  where do businesses go from here? 

Read our initial thoughts on COP here.

This photo was taken at COP21 – how much progress have we really made? 
“Civil society sit-in demanding climate justice outside COP21 plenary rooms” by John Englart, CC BY-SA 2.0

“From LGBTQ+ Confusion to Inclusion”

As part of our accessibility and inclusion programme, we’re always looking to expand our understanding of how we can make the workplace a more inclusive and supportive space for everyone. This year, we’ve completed an online training course by Proud Futures focused on increasing our knowledge and awareness of the LGBTQ+ community. 

We’ve got a blog post in the works on some of the points we’ve found most striking as a team and some of our reflections on the experience, but in the meantime, we want to flag this course up to you! It’s an excellent course informed by lived experience that can be completed at your own pace and puts a strong emphasis on creating a supportive space to learn and reflect.

You can find out more about LGBTQ+ course here.

The post Beyond Green Sustainability Newsletter Winter 2025 first appeared on Beyond Green.

Read through our annual report below – if you prefer, there is a pdf version below and we’re providing a text only version of the report in Google Doc.

You can also sign up to our newsletter to receive quarterly updates and our annual report sneak peek directly to your inbox.

Please note that the alt text for images below will be big picture summaries, with the complete transcription to be found in the text only document.

The post Beyond Green Annual Report 2023 first appeared on Beyond Green.

The Royal College of Pathologists (hereafter RCPath) is a professional membership body with over 12,000 global members. They are medical professionals who not only work in laboratories, but directly in hospitals and communities and are concerned with the causes of disease.

Having previously worked with other professional associations on their sustainability journey (such as The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow), we were confident that we could use our experience to work with RCPath and help kickstart their Net Zero journey.

The Project

Among a multitude of risks posed by a changing climate, it has been predicted that rising global temperatures could lead to an increased risk of future pandemics. RCPath are aware of the severity of the climate emergency and want to play their part in a low-carbon future. RCPath approached Beyond Green seeking guidance to develop a Net Zero strategy with clear follow-on actions. 

Project Delivery

An Iterative Carbon Baseline

The project aimed to develop a Net Zero strategy that connects to RCPath’s core values of Service, Teamwork and Ambition. When any organisation begins their Net Zero journey, the first thing they need to do is to calculate their carbon baseline. Ideally, an organisation would calculate emissions for all the categories outlined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GGP) that apply to them. Most organisations do not possess the resources to measure emissions for all categories from the outset but should make plans to do so over time. RCPath committed to measuring eleven out of the eighteen categories in their baseline year – which is an admirable starting point!

We worked with RCPath to identify the categories that were most relevant to them. Afterwards, we identified the data requirements that were necessary to allow us to calculate their organisational footprint. We sought to do this using spend data for complex categories such as purchased goods and services, and activity data such as kWh consumption for electricity and natural gas. Throughout the project RCPath’s baseline emissions were revised as new information was uncovered, which is not uncommon at the start of an organisation’s Net Zero journey.

Collaboration to Reduce Emissions

After calculating RCPath’s baseline emissions, the next step was to generate ideas for carbon reduction opportunities. Nobody knows the organisation better than the people keeping it running, so we wanted to make sure to hear from a range of voices throughout RCPath to help us outline their roadmap. We set up workshops with stakeholders in four key areas of their operations, within which team members could brainstorm decarbonisation ideas:

• Energy and facilities
• Exams
• Procurement

Tapping into expertise from targeted areas of the business allowed us to identify decarbonisation ideas that were not only tailored and specific, but also practical. For example, following this project RCPath plans to provide plant-based catering for its internal events. However, we realised that they could not take control of the catering provided for external clients at their office, who routinely book the space.

Accessibility

Accessibility is important to us, so we took steps to ensure that all attendees at the carbon reduction workshops were able to contribute comfortably. Firstly, we sent a briefing ahead of each meeting, outlining the structure of the workshop to the RCPath team. We also made the carbon baseline report available to all participants to allow members of the team who had not previously been involved in the project to get up to speed in advance of the meeting. In addition, we gave participants the opportunity to add ideas to our workshop Miro board asynchronously, in case they were not able to do so during the meeting.

I was particularly impressed with the collaborative nature of Beyond Green’s work and how they adapted their process to meet our needs.

Daniel Ross, Chief Executive Officer of The Royal College of Pathologists

Clear Actions

Following the carbon reduction workshops, we used our Net Zero toolkit to project the impact of the proposed actions on RCPath’s carbon emissions to 2032. For each action, we were able to outline how much carbon could be saved for each emissions category. We also mapped each measure to one of the four categories, to allow for easy digestion by key decision makers within RCPath:

Text description of graph

This graphic outlines the four categories of emissions reduction measures that we assigned to RCPath, based on a scale of ease of implementation (low to high) and Impact (Low to high).

• Long-term projects: Actions that could be implemented at a later point in RCPath’s Net Zero journey (High Impact, Low Ease of Implementation)
• Priority tasks: These were actions that may take time to implement, but could yield significant carbon savings. (High Impact, High Ease of Implementation)
• Resource drains: These Actions were disregarded as it was anticipated that they would use excessive resources, without yielding significant carbon savings (Low Impact, Low Ease of Implementation)
• Quick wins: These were actions that were relatively straightforward to implement, and are proven to reduce carbon emissions (Low Impact, High Ease of Implementation)

Improving Carbon Management Processes

Lastly, in the final project report, we recommended ways that RCPath could streamline their carbon management processes to drive efficiencies and improve the reliability of their sustainability reporting.

RCPath’s next steps are to:

1. Implement the carbon reduction measures which were identified throughout this project
2. Monitor their progress towards their interim emissions reduction target
3. Expand their carbon boundary in the coming years to include emissions categories which were not measured initially

Ultimately, their ambition is to reach Net Zero by 2040, allowing for time for contingency in the journey ahead, while being ahead of the UK 2050 target.

Client Feedback

At the end of the project, we reached out to Daniel Ross, Chief Executive Officer of The Royal College of Pathologists, who said the following:

“Developing our Net Zero roadmap is a key strategic objective for RCPath. Beyond Green guided and supported us through the process from calculating our carbon footprint to working collaboratively with our team to identify and calculate the key opportunities to build our roadmap to Net Zero. They worked with us to identify the categories of emissions which are most relevant for our business, then calculated our emissions for our baseline year, before engaging with stakeholders throughout the college to identify decarbonisation opportunities. 

I was particularly impressed with the collaborative nature of Beyond Green’s work and how they adapted their process to meet our needs. They understood the importance of gathering perspectives from various departments within the college and were skilled facilitators to enable our team to contribute. They always took a pragmatic approach to any challenges with quantification, so we did not drain our resources; and ensured we now have a Net Zero roadmap with clear actions.”

Looking for more real business examples of our work? You can find our other case studies here.

The post The Royal College of Pathologists Case Study: Net Zero Roadmap first appeared on Beyond Green.

J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC (hereafter ‘J Smart’) is a leading property developer and construction company in Scotland’s Central Belt with a blended portfolio of industrial properties and office spaces. Their construction activities range from building J Smart’s property portfolio to residential properties for sale and for housing association partners.  Although J Smart is a UK-listed company, it is a family-run business with an ambitious team that realises the importance and value of transitioning to improving their Net Zero and sustainable business practices.  

Beginnings

Building on Beyond Green’s extensive experience of working with the Scottish Construction sector since 2008 through our work with Castle Group Scotland, GHI Contracts Ltd, George Leslie Ltd, and Zero Waste Scotland, the team was well positioned to support J Smart. 

The Beyond Green team was introduced to J Smart by its long-term collaborative partner – Anderson Strathern LLP – in the autumn of 2022. We have been working with Anderson Strathern, pre-pandemic, on their Net Zero strategy, and so it was natural for them to introduce us to the team at J Smart. 

From the initial meetings with Jane and Lynsey (Head of Commercial Development and Head of Human Resources respectively), the importance which J Smart and Beyond Green place on building open and long-term relationships was clear; and as 2022 came to a close, we set the foundations for our work in 2023.   

Now

The focus of our work together for 2023 was to develop J Smart’s first Sustainability Strategy and to prepare J Smart for listing requirements for Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). No small feat for a small team. We often think of a listed company, a PLC, as a large multinational, such as Galliford Try or Balfour Beaty, and overlook that some listed companies can be, in effect, an SME with limited capacity and resources for transformational projects. So where did we start?

It was clear from Paul’s conversation with Jane and Lynsey that we needed to bring people together to understand what sustainability is, introduce possible frameworks to think about it, and show everyone that they can make a positive impact for a better world.   Before we got bogged down in the world of TCFD!   

Sustainability Workshop

2023 kicks off with a session at J Smart’s Links Place office complex on a beautiful sunny morning, just off Leith Links in Edinburgh. After an initial introduction of core concepts of sustainability, circular economy and Net Zero, we took a deep dive into the UN Sustainable Development Goals – we find this a useful framework to understand the breadth and depth of sustainability.  Working in small groups, the 15 members of J Smart’s team, including the Joint Managing Directors and Chairman, explored the SDGs that are important to the business now and what will become important by 2030. The image below shows the final priority goals and supporting goals selected by the group. 

Alternative description: The Priority Goals are 3 – Good Health and Well-being, 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, and 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production. The Supporting Goals are 4 – Quality Education, 5 – Gender Equality, 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and 17 – Partnerships for the Goals.

For these goals, the team then considered the actions they are already taking to contribute to the overall objective of each goal, and then the actions they could take in the next few years to strengthen their contribution. This workshop formed the basis of J Smart’s Sustainability Strategy which was then developed further by working through the requirements of TCFD.  

TCFD Work Packages 

The requirements for TCFD – Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures are founded on four pillars: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management and Metrics and Targets.  Across these pillars are 11 recommendations that help an organisation focus on the financial impacts of climate change on their current and future business activities.  To understand the implications of climate change upon a business required a thorough assessment of J Smart’s key stakeholders (People, Tenants/Home buyers, Partners), key partners in their supply chain, and key assets and materials which could be impacted by physical and transitional risks of climate change, as well as any opportunities it may present.   

To break down this momentous task, Beyond Green devised 11 work packages within an overall project briefing document to help the 9-member project team at J Smart methodically assess the underlying impacts of climate change on business. The outcome of this will eventually inform both the sustainability strategy and the TCFD requirements. One of the overarching work packages was to develop J Smart’s first comprehensive GHG Emissions Statement.  With many interrelated aspects to the work, it was necessary to develop a collaborative way of working both internally and with the Beyond Green team. 

Collaborative Working – Miro Mindmap Merry-go-rounds 

A project of this complexity with contributions from several team members at J Smart and Beyond Green requires effective technologies to help us all work together in person and virtually. The J Smart team were introduced to a number of new collaborative tools, such as online whiteboards – Miro – and Microsoft Teams. With expertise from Beyond Green’s Associate Director, Lisa, Beyond Green designed a guided whiteboard for each work package that allowed Paul (BG Founder and Director) to facilitate discussions, visualise discussion points and map out the big picture plans, in particular for the preparation of the TCFD requirements.   

Although Miro boards were an effective tool when J Smart was guided by Beyond Green, it became challenging without expert facilitation. Quickly adapting to the requirements, the Miro export functionality enabled us to reconfigure the detail into an excel spreadsheet; and with added guidance the J Smart team was comfortable to progress independently. J Smart recognise the value of Miro, and wish to invest in more training to use the tool effectively for construction project planning. The use of Teams enabled our collective work to be shared and worked on simultaneously, which was particularly valuable for the data gathering, analysis and carbon accounting. 

Digital Data Discipline 

Carbon Accounting requires a lot of data! And often requires new data sources and data sets, or gathering data in a manner that supports dynamic analysis and interrogation. For example, energy data across the J Smart group was previously collected through several separate spreadsheets that required a lot of manual manipulation to calculate kWh and carbon emissions for a range of energy sources. We designed and built an energy database which streamlined data gathering, analysis and carbon calculations. A database with lots of controls, such as defined dropdown lists and lookup tables, using existing datasets, meaning that data discipline was embedded in the process. 

With 2023 being J Smart’s first year of preparing a comprehensive carbon footprint for Scope 1, 2 and 3, and with the tight reporting timelines following the company’s accounting year end, we decided to prepare a 6-month carbon statement to test the methodology, identify data sources and understand the data cleansing needed. With a lot of data gathering work by the J Smart procurement team for materials and sub-contractors, by the property team for leased assets and by the HR team for travel, we could prepare for the year end. 

Bringing it all together

After many months of hard work, the sustainability strategy document was taking shape and the richness and insights of the information gathered helped J Smart understand and analyse climate related risks and opportunities for the first-time. From this analysis, the board could identify seven strategic objectives to focus on over the next few years; objectives that also aim to reduce the emissions.     

The extensive carbon inventory prepared and quantified over 6 months created a clear audit trail for Beyond Green and J Smart to prepare a transparent, comprehensive and reliable Greenhouse Gas Emissions statement for the TCFD report, along with clear explanations about the specific methodologies and their limitations. Although the GHG Corporate Accounting Protocol provides clear guidance and overall methodologies, the challenges arise at the coalface where detailed methodologies and assumptions will constantly develop to overcome the limitations discovered in the first few years.  

Nevertheless, the achievement of J Smart and Beyond Green’s collaboration and hard work put us in a great position to build on in the future.     

Future

Over the last year, the J Smart Sustainability Committee, led by the Chairman and heavily supported by the Head of Commercial Development and Head of Human Resources, have engaged the wider team to lead the key work packages to prepare their fully comprehensive report on TCFD requirements.  The company’s dedication, hard work and ambition are impressive and with our guidance, they work pragmatically to overcome the challenges. As a team, we have grown a lot, developed new knowledge and skills and embraced new ways of working collaboratively.  All this has strengthened the foundations and added key building blocks for us to progress in 2024.     

J Smart with the support of Beyond Green are now planning the 2024 TCFD (which will be incorporated under the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS) going forward) and GHG Emissions reporting progress; identifying how to streamline data collection and analysis; looking at opportunities to utilise software and technologies to drive forward digital transformation; and evaluating how we can further develop team collaboration, and the skills required. In addition, 2024 will see J Smart develop its first Net Zero Roadmap to evidence how it will achieve Science Based Targets for 2030.

Within 12 months, the team has significantly shifted its focus towards sustainability, which has overwhelming support from the wider organisation, and engaged with its key stakeholders in developing J Smart’s sustainability strategy; David, Jane and Lynsey are now ready to lead the team on the next stage of the journey. 

Testimonial

It was obvious from our initial meeting with Paul Adderley at Beyond Green that they would be fantastic partners for our Sustainability journey. We were filled with confidence due to their knowledge, extensive experience and proven track record.  Full of optimism and enthusiasm, Paul and his team accepted the challenges presented to them and provided invaluable, pragmatic and sensible advice at every step of the process. From an almost standing start with tight timescales, and with great participation from our Home Team, we have produced a sustainability strategy which will form the basis of our commitment to reducing our emissions and enhancing our sustainable working practices.  Paul also provided very helpful technical guidance for our TCFD reporting commitments, working very closely with our team to advise and guide. We look forward to building a long term partnership with Paul and his team at Beyond Green.”

David Smart, Chairman and Joint Managing Director, J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC

Looking for more real business examples of our work? You can find our other case studies here.

The post J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC Case Study first appeared on Beyond Green.

Not an easy question to answer, given there are over 300 definitions of sustainability. It can mean different things and timescales to different people. But with the uncertainty created by recent UK government announcements about the changes to Net Zero strategies and environmental policies; we need a consistent understanding of Net Zero now more than ever, to allow for the clear, consistent  and courageous long-term planning that will give all organisations the confidence to invest in a sustainable future.

Our founder and director Paul Adderley has developed an approach for thinking about sustainability, built on his expertise and reflections from 30 years of studying and working in the field, as well as leading a values-driven business. The framework covers four pillars or “P”s: Philosophy, Purpose, Practice, and Partnership.

1. Philosophy

Philosophy, our first pillar, is about a mindset of how to place sustainability in our hearts as well as our heads when thinking about what it means. It is made up of Connection, Stewardship and Resilience 

Connection

Firstly Connection – we are all part of this beautiful planet, not merely detached economic agents of production. Think of a time when you were in awe of a landscape, a view, or wildlife –  be it here in Scotland or watching David Attenborough’s PLANET EARTH; amazed at how some species survive in extreme conditions; or lost, emersed even, when we are out walking, or gazing at the intricate wonder of nature in a garden, park or flowerpot.

We are inextricably linked to the life around us, we are interdependent on the success of each other, and our future prosperity is dependent on the health of ecosystems that do so much for us, without charging us for their services. 

This sense of connection to the world around us should help frame how we can approach our role in delivering a sustainable future. In essence, our role as business leaders, and as citizens too, is one of Stewardship 

Stewardship

Stewardship is about how we guide and lead our organisations to create a legacy for next generations. It involves taking strategic and practical actions that reduce negative impacts, regenerate ecosystems, and build a fairer and more inclusive society where everyone has a place at the table to contribute their skills and abilities.  

Resilience

Responsible stewardship will help us create resilience, the third aspect of the philosophy pillar. The climate emergency brings immense challenges and exciting opportunities to all organisations. The secret to resilience is our ability to adapt as leaders and organisations by working with a wider range of stakeholders rather than protecting vested interests.     

In the words of one leading CEO in Scotland, “It’s a Moral Imperative”. 

2. Purpose

The second P in Paul’s framework is Purpose, or the goals we wish to work towards. 

The UN Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs for short – are a great way to help orientate organisations’ sustainable strategies; we use them at Beyond Green to support our clients in considering different aspects of sustainability in their planning.

Therefore, the pillar of Purpose is captured neatly in the framework provided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, set out in 2015 (The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021. The 17 goals represent the pressing local and global challenges for 2030. These goals can be split into 3 tiers or systems:

• Planet  – Ecosystems for life on land and in water, and climate action
• Social – Good health and wellbeing,  gender equality, and reduce inequalities 
• Economic – Innovation & Industry, Responsible Resource use & Production, Decent work.
• And running through these and connecting them is: Partnership 

The structure of these tiers reflects their interdependencies: Ecosystems form the base – we need functioning ecosystems to deal with our waste and to provide the basics of life like clean air, water, and food. These support the creation of a functioning, flourishing and fair society, which in turn can support a prosperous economy.   

Since the 1960’s in particular, we have placed the importance of these systems in reverse order. We have viewed the economy as the foundation to drive progress rather than the result of it.

So the purpose for businesses is to figure out how to operate within the natural order of ecosystems supporting society supporting the economy, to create prosperity for the current generation while providing a legacy for future ones.  

And businesses in Scotland are already demonstrating this is possible through the work they are doing today.

3. Practice

There are many Scottish businesses already taking positive action to build sustainable practices. Today, we’d like to highlight two of them: Egg Lighting and the collaboration between GHI Contracts and Melville Housing.

Egg Lighting 

Glasgow-based Egg Lighting is a leading remanufacturer of LED lighting units for large scale installations, such as warehouses, hospitals, and local authorities. They supply light, not lighting equipment. Their USP is to continually remanufacture the returned units at the end of their useful life with best available technology, and to lease out the lighting units again.  Therefore the business model changes from a linear model of building, installing, and disposing, to a circular model where they supply equipment, lease lighting and then remanufacture. Their processes reduce resource use, waste and carbon emissions across the product life cycle, and represent a step change in industrial innovation which sustainability demands.

GHI Contracts & Melville Housing Association 

GHI Contracts, again based in Glasgow, specialises in the refurbishment of high grade commercial buildings.  Changing leases creates a lot of waste, particularly carpet tiles which end up in landfill.  Since 2017, we have worked with GHI Contracts to find better uses of the tiles with community groups, and in particular with Melville Housing Association. 

For a number of years now, Melville tenants have been able to access a free supply of tiles to carpet their homes. Melville’s Flooring not Landfill project is diverting tonnes of waste from landfill, reducing emissions, and providing a valuable resource for tenants struggling to find funds to furnish their home. With simple guides and videos, tenants feel confident and equipped to lay their own carpet. The project is approaching the 100 home milestone. The project is spreading, and recently a former Melville staff member contacted Beyond Green to request carpet tiles for Scottish Borders Housing Association!  

GHI is a cost conscious construction company, and they too have benefited from lower waste disposal costs from the project. However, the greater impact is the noticeable pride across the company because they recognise that their partnership with Melville and others is making a practical difference by reducing resource use and poverty in people’s lives.  

To many, the Sustainable Development Goals seem like issues for the global south, or the domain of big business, governments and global NGOs.  However, the SDGs capture the multidimensional themes of sustainability, which all need to be tackled in order to move towards a truly more sustainable future. 

In Scotland, the SDGs have been embedded into the National Performance Framework, and businesses here can play a vital role to enact the essence of the goals within their strategy and daily practices, as illustrated by Egg Lighting, GHI Contracts and Melville Housing Association; all businesses that have benefitted from support from Zero Waste Scotland.  Sustainability does not require any of us to have all the answers, to solve the global challenges alone – it relies on our fourth and final pillar:

4. Partnership 

Partnership in sustainability means collaboration across sectors as well as within the specific sectors you operate. You will have unique skills and insights to share, and the  solutions you’ve developed for your business could help another organisation in a different sector.  The existential challenges we face with the climate emergency demand a focus on cooperation rather than purely competition, to bring about the significant step changes required. We can only achieve this by pooling our collective resources.

Whatever sector you work in, you will be thinking about challenges and opportunities in your business, be it operational, technological, or strategic. By having conversations, being curious and being creative, you will be able to progress towards a solution that works for your business, people and planet.  

In summary, building a sustainable future requires partnership, purpose and practical positive action.

If you are looking for an external partner to support you in your sustainability journey, we can share our experience and expertise in Net Zero Transition Strategies, Carbon Accounting and delivering on the UN Sustainability Goals to help your organisation move forward. We may also be able to put you in touch with other local businesses through our networks, and collaborate with you on finding innovative solutions for your business. E-mail or call us today to chat about how we could support you.

Note: This blog post is based on a talk Paul was invited to give to a Business Leaders dinner hosted by Anderson Strathern in November 2023 in Glasgow.

The post An approach to sustainability first appeared on Beyond Green.

Aberdeen Performing Arts is a charitable trust founded in 2004. Their vision is to create a vibrant, cultural hub at the heart of city life – inspiring, exploring and engaging through live performance and creative projects.

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) manages three iconic Aberdeen city-centre venues, His Majesty’s Theatre, The Music Hall and the Lemon Tree. In addition to the spaces within those venues, they run over five festivals a year, and a production company, with over 1,000,000 visits to our venues annually. Their small and ambitious team are working towards achieving Green Tourism Awards for all their venues, and they are a proud member of the Green Arts Initiative run by Creative Carbon Scotland. In November 2019, they were one of the first arts organisations to win the VIBES Award for Environmental Management and have been recently shortlisted under the Climate Action category within the North of Scotland Thistle Awards. 

Beginnings 

The Beyond Green team became involved with APA back in 2016 through a Zero Waste Scotland project with one of our long-term clients – Castle Group Scotland. Castle Group Scotland was a key contractor on the refurbishment of the Music Hall, and Beyond Green worked collaboratively with them to explore reuse opportunities for the hall’s plaque flooring, lifts and timber supports.  

After this engagement, we remained in touch, and in early 2019 we began supporting APA with their regulatory compliance with the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).  In December 2019, with a successful submission sent in, life for APA, like for all of us, was soon about to change significantly with the onset of the pandemic. Like many organisations, it was all hands on deck to navigate these uncharted waters.    

Now 

It is a testament to the resilience and creativity of the APA team to have come through the pandemic with all its challenges to the creative and events sector. Our founder Paul was delighted in October 2022 to receive an email from the Head of Finance and Sustainability, Matt Godfrey, wishing to continue our partnership with their important strategic objective to develop a Net Zero roadmap.   

It was clear from Paul and Matt’s conversation that both organisations had built on their strong shared values around  Optimism, Curiosity and Teamwork, all crucial to working towards Net Zero.  They also had a personal shared connection, as two accountants working in sustainability; Paul commented to Matt during their first conversation how uplifted he felt seeing the title of Matt’s role and that he was leading APA’s Net Zero project.  

Through an interactive session using collaborative tools like Miro, the ambitious team included 11 carbon emission categories in their baseline, including many challenging ones such as Audience travel, purchases of goods and services, employee commuting and homeworking!  Once we all knew what was going to be in our Carbon Pie, it was time to gather data and crunch some numbers. We found the emissions relating to production of programmes by third-party promoters particularly difficult, given data availability, and investigated how to apportion the emissions from a tour going to many UK venues. We decided to exclude them this time, and revisit them in the future when there is more data available. 

So in December 2022, we started out on our 5 steps to Net Zero Roadmap project, with an initial briefing about Net Zero over Microsoft Teams which serves to ensure that everyone is on the same page given the raft of confusing terminology and greenwashing out there. APA wanted to ensure they expanded their current carbon reporting to be in line with best practices, so we also covered what is included in a carbon footprint for Net Zero to create a shared knowledge base for the project team. 

With the Net Zero carbon baseline (31 March 2020) and analysis completed, it was on to the challenge of identifying ambitious actions to reduce the baseline by 42% by 2030, an interim target in line with Science Based Targets (SBTs). But the plan also needed to be pragmatic, practical and financially viable for a small organisation with huge demands on its resources. APA wished to gather as much input from across the organisation as possible, as Net Zero is not a stand-alone project delivered by a few, but requires everyone to be involved to be successful.  To support this, we adapted our Carbon Reduction Ideas session in Miro to enable asynchronous contributions from the APA team, along with a short video introducing the session. In effect, we created a hybrid method to deliver the workshop, allowing in-person and offline contributions to low-carbon ideas.   

With over 50 carbon reduction ideas covering energy, travel, and procurement, we had the interesting task of identifying and prioritising the top 15 to model into a 10-year road map. Using the Miro voting function, a priority matrix and a timeline, we could easily visualise the decision process so everyone could understand how we arrived at the final list of ideas.       

The final stage was to quantify the expected reduction in carbon emissions from the priority ideas until  2030. Again, we needed to be pragmatic and use project resources (budget and people’s time) wisely, so with a balance of good data and assumptions we identified a significant reduction emissions from the priority carbon reduction actions for the current carbon boundary.    

It is usual for the first Net Zero roadmap to identify a shortfall against the SBT for 2030. For APA this is more challenging, as options to reduce energy use are limited due to old stone buildings. Although APA is investigating opportunities for saving more energy, they are not going to be relocating their 1800’s Music Hall to a new BREEAM office! Another challenge is that a high proportion (75%) of emissions, like for many SMEs, are out of their control, in particular audience travel which is highly dependent on individual choice and the availability of public transport.  

Matt Godfrey, Head of Finance and Sustainability said “We are delighted to be working with Paul and the team at Beyond Green on our next stage towards our net zero journey. The pandemic posed a significant challenge for Aberdeen Performing Arts and the arts sector as a whole and we were fortunate to come through this with the support of our audience and partners. Despite the challenges it posed it did offer us an opportunity to reset and revisit our Sustainability plans and strategies.

Sustainability is at the core of everything we do within Aberdeen Performing Arts, and to ensure that any plans were understood and embedded within our organisation we wanted to undertake a baseline assessment and planning process that was truly collaborative. The facilitation, support and expertise offered by Beyond Green throughout this project encapsulated this collaborative ethos, ensuring that we were able to have meaningful discussion and idea generation that could be harnessed into a working plan and roadmap.

At all stages of this process from initial scoping, through to the data collection and ESOS work Paul has guided and supported us, ensuring that we can take a pragmatic view and output that reflects our capabilities. We hope to develop this strong working relationship through the next delivery stages of our journey.” 

Future 

In the last 9 months, Aberdeen Performing Arts’s Green Team, led by Matt as Head of Finance and Sustainability, have engaged the wider team to generate ideas and prepared their initial Net Zero roadmap to guide them over the next 5 years or so; no small feat for a small team. Their dedication and ambition are impressive and they work pragmatically to overcome the challenges.   

Aberdeen Performing Arts with the support of Beyond Green are now conducting the ESOS 2023 work to calculate more detailed cost and carbon savings from energy use, which will feed into the next iteration of the Net Zero roadmap in late 2023. In addition, we are working together to build a carbon reporting tool to help them understand progress against their Net Zero roadmap. This tool will help Matt provide different levels of detail to APA’s board, wider stakeholders and the Green team so all parties can make informed decisions.   

Furthermore, Aberdeen Performing Arts will continue to work on improving data collection, often a challenging area for emissions that are outwith their direct control (Scope 3 emissions).  They are already making headway by looking at streamlining data gathering for audience travel through their booking system and formalising the data captured from visiting companies in terms of freight.  

And all the great progress made this year has already gained recognition, as Aberdeen Performing Arts is shortlisted in the Climate Action category at the Aberdeen City & Shire Thistle Awards 2023, the first year of this category within the awards. 

Looking for more case studies? You can find our other case studies here.

The post Aberdeen Performing Arts Case Study first appeared on Beyond Green.

Carbon Accounting is the process of calculating the direct and indirect carbon emissions generated by an organisation’s operations within a defined boundary, also referred to as your carbon footprint. It is an important tool in the journey towards Net Zero carbon emissions.

Net Zero refers to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere, resulting in no net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The focus is to reduce carbon emissions, and as a last resort consider offsetting though this is becoming an increasingly contentious approach to take.

Understanding Carbon Boundaries

In order to calculate your baseline carbon footprint, you first need to define your carbon boundaries – i.e., what is and is not to be included in your calculation. Generally, your boundaries depend on how much influence you have over the emissions, as well as what you are using the calculation for – there may be compliance requirements that you need to consider when deciding on your carbon boundaries.

There are three scopes of carbon emissions:

• Scope 1: This includes emissions directly produced by your activities such as burning fuel.
• Scope 2: This includes indirect emissions resulting from the purchase of energy.
• Scope 3: This includes external or value chain emissions e.g. emissions from the production of the goods and services you purchase. 

Text only description of image

Infographic showing the difference between scopes. Scope 1 – Direct Emissions shows a heating unit inside a factory building. Scope 2 – Indirect Emissions shows external energy production linked to the factory. Scope 3 – External Emissions shows arrows for inputs (upstream emissions) and outputs (downstream emissions) leading to and from the factory.

Building your carbon footprint

Once you have defined your carbon boundaries you can begin to calculate your baseline carbon emissions. This will include looking at your current operations and expenditures to create an overview of your emissions in different areas of your business, for example energy use on site, transport, or purchases of goods. The GHG Protocol has a defined list of 18 emission categories and accepted accounting methodologies.

Carbon Accounting Considerations 

Carbon accounting at its core is quite straightforward; find the raw data that best measures an activity, such as kWH for energy, then multiply by the relevant carbon factor to calculate the emissions. Despite the simple maths, there are a number of considerations to be mindful of.   

Tip 1 – Identify Relevant Data Sources  

Understanding data sources and the process of data gathering is a key aspect of carbon accounting. Accurate and reliable data is essential for calculating carbon emissions and establishing a solid foundation for effective emission reduction strategies. Sources of data may include utility bills, fuel consumption records, transportation logs or 3rd party data from your suppliers. Some suppliers may even calculate carbon emissions related to their activity such as a travel management company. It’s important to take time to understand what data is available, where there are gaps, and where to prioritise your efforts. 

Tip 2 – Balancing accuracy, reliability and effort

It is important to balance the accuracy and reliability of carbon data with the effort required to collect it. It is essential to strive for accuracy to ensure the calculated emissions are as close to the actual values as possible. Additionally the sources from which data is collected should be reputable and trustworthy, ensuring that the information used for carbon accounting is credible and can withstand scrutiny. However, it’s also important to strike a balance and consider the effort required to collect data. Collecting data can be a resource-intensive task, requiring time and financial resources. Finding the right balance ensures that data collection efforts are manageable, feasible, and cost-effective while still providing a high level of accuracy and reliability.

Tip 3 – Credible Carbon Factors  

It is important to use carbon factors from a credible source. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (previously Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy) issues a comprehensive collection of updated carbon emission factors on an annual basis. Some carbon reporting software and reporting platforms include emissions factors from multiple verified sources. Beyond Green works closely with Ecometrica which has a global database of emission factors.

Tip 4 – Account for Inflation

During 2022, inflation was around 10%, which will have fed into prices of goods and services purchased by an organisation. A pragmatic, reliable and accepted carbon accounting method, which is suitable for many organisations, is to use a carbon factor (£/kgCO₂e) to convert the amounts spent on goods and services into a proxy for the carbon emissions emitted during the manufacture of goods. 

However, the revision of these spend based factors lag behind actual price increases and thus could artificially increase an organisation’s emissions if not corrected. This is because amounts spent is a proxy and does not relate to the actual emissions generated from the use of primary energy (scope 1 and 2) in the manufacture, which may have actually reduced per unit produced. It is therefore important to continually improve your carbon accounting methods to obtain credible carbon factors from suppliers relating to their primary energy use.   

Tip 5 – Repeatable Methodology

Having a repeatable methodology for carbon accounting ensures consistency in the calculations and reporting of carbon emissions over time, allowing you to evaluate the effectiveness of carbon emission reduction efforts. A consistent approach to carbon accounting enhances transparency and credibility, enabling stakeholders to have confidence in the reported emissions data. This is particularly crucial for organisations seeking to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, comply with regulatory requirements, or engage in voluntary reporting initiatives. Ultimately, a repeatable methodology provides a solid framework for consistent and reliable carbon accounting, supporting organisations in making informed decisions, setting targets, and driving effective climate action.

How we can support you

We have an extensive track record of calculating carbon footprints, both independently and as part of larger sustainability or Net Zero projects. We’ll be able to advise you on defining your carbon boundaries. Our expertise in carbon accounting  and experience building reliable and robust methodologies will support you in maintaining an overview of your carbon impacts in the long term.

Testimonials & Case Studies

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)

“Beyond Green has been fantastic in guiding us through our journey towards Net Zero, from the early Briefing and Scoping Sessions, through our Data Collection Sessions to establish our Carbon Inventory, to quantifying our Carbon Baseline. They provided the right mixture of guidance and technical expertise, where those were required and steered us through the process of developing our Net Zero Roadmap. Paul Adderley and Neil Hutson have been such a great help and support throughout this project and we will be seeking their continuing support as we move forward on our journey towards Net Zero.” – Craig Anderson, ICAS Facilities Manager, November 2022

> Read more about this project here: ICAS Net Zero Strategy Case Study 

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Inspiring Scotland

“Beyond Green provided excellent support and coaching as we navigated our way through our first carbon audit.  They provided expert knowledge and project management but also ensured the process engaged the whole organisation, reflected our values and ambition and left us with the ability to continue this important work ourselves. I would thoroughly recommend them for any small organisation looking to begin the journey to Net Zero.”

Erica Judge – Director of Funds, Climate Justice, Inspiring Scotland, May 2023

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Royal College of Radiologists (RCR)

“It’s a pleasure to recommend Beyond Green as a partner in starting and supporting a journey to delivering our environmental goals. We have worked with Beyond Green since March 2022 to assist the Royal College of Radiologists on our journey to understanding our impact on the environment and work towards our Net Zero targets.

During this time, Beyond Green expertise has helped to revise our carbon baseline beyond scope 1 & 2 into scope 3 emissions and provide guidance and insight on our internal carbon emissions data. Paul, Neil and the Beyond Green team have been professional, have adapted to our ways of working during the project and demonstrated a collaborative working style that has been essential to keep us involved throughout the process and help transfer knowledge into our team. We could not have done this ourselves and I’m grateful for their work.

We will continue to work with Beyond Green to support us with identifying carbon reduction opportunities and creating a Net Zero pathway. We will also be working with Beyond Green to implement the Ecometrica carbon accounting  platform into our organisation to streamline our carbon reporting process.”

David Botha, Executive Director, Business and Resources, RCR November 2022

The post Carbon Accounting for businesses – what you need to know first appeared on Beyond Green.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is a global professional body for chartered accountants. ICAS has a rich heritage, having been formed in 1854 as the world’s first professional body for accountants. Their position within the profession makes them a key influencer and driver of change, which is reflected in their ambition to tackle climate change in a meaningful way. 

The project

ICAS has long understood the importance of sustainability, having reported their annual carbon emissions through the Carbon Disclosure Project since 2011. However, ICAS recognised showing climate leadership now requires developing a Net Zero Strategy to understand and tackle carbon emissions at all levels of the organisation. 

Project Delivery

We began the project with a Net Zero briefing to ensure all members of ICAS’ Net Zero project team were up to speed with key concepts. We then worked together to define a new carbon baseline, helping them to identify and quantify sources of Scope 3 carbon emissions which had not previously been reported on, such as Purchased Goods and Services.

During this process, we worked with sub-teams across the organisation to help them better understand current data availability and plan for future improvements to increase efficiency and accuracy of annual carbon reporting via Ecometrica. ICAS understands that improving data quality helps to drive efficiencies and better sustainability action and that to make improvements requires collaboration across multiple teams. 

Once a more complete carbon baseline was established, an interactive group workshop was run to identify and prioritise carbon reduction actions. The carbon impact of these actions was quantified and modelled into a near-term Net Zero Roadmap to 2030 in line with Science Based Targets (SBTs). Scenario analysis was included within the Net Zero Roadmap to help reflect the uncertainty related to office emissions, as ICAS begins to plan for future working requirements which align with Net Zero and with changes to working habits resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Outcomes

A carbon baseline for the year to December 31 2021 was calculated. As a result of the Net Zero Strategy project, ICAS understands the importance of engaging with Tier 1 suppliers as a priority to better quantify and reduce carbon emissions in their supply chain. ICAS are now looking to the future to implement carbon reduction actions, improve data collection and continue expanding their carbon boundary as they progress towards their goal of reaching Net Zero. 

Beyond Green has been fantastic in guiding us through our journey towards Net Zero, from the early Briefing and Scoping Sessions, through our Data Collection Sessions to establish our Carbon Inventory, to quantifying our Carbon Baseline. They provided the right mixture of guidance and technical expertise, where those were required and steered us through the process of developing our Net Zero Roadmap. Paul Adderley and Neil Hutson have been such a great help and support throughout this project and we will be seeking their continuing support as we move forward on our journey towards Net Zero.“

Craig Anderson, ICAS Facilities Manager, November 2022

Looking for more case studies? You can find our other Net Zero case studies here.

The post ICAS Net Zero Strategy Case Study first appeared on Beyond Green.

Festivals Edinburgh is a strategic umbrella organisation bringing together eleven iconic Edinburgh member festivals in collaborative and strategic projects. 

The Project

This was Phase 2 of our ongoing work together; Phase 1 was a carbon baseline verification project. You can read our case study on Phase 1 here.

Phase 2 of the project covered an impartial and external review of the carbon targets set by 8 participating festivals.

Project Delivery

For this phase of the project the aim was to review the carbon targets set by the participating festivals. A realistic outcome agreed with all festivals was for each festival to have 3 verified carbon reduction targets. To achieve this, we reviewed their existing targets, held collaborative conversations with each festival about them and supported the festivals in creating new credible targets where needed. Then we proceeded to validate the targets. 

We approached this process in three steps:

1. Validate the design of the target
2. Validate the underlying data and information
3. Validate the carbon reduction calculations

This allowed us to address any big picture improvement areas for the targets before moving onto the more data-heavy, detailed validation steps where we could use our technical expertise to suggest potential improvements and long-term opportunities for development of the methodology to ensure that target setting and monitoring progress is practical, reliable and realistic.

Impact

From our work, we could validate the festivals’ targets and provide recommendations for improving on the target and on the underlying data processing to maximise the long-term benefits of their carbon reduction plans. Our collaborative approach, supported by our technical expertise, allowed us to suggest best practice improvements for the methodology of data analysis, taking into account key business concerns like business continuity and change management. We produced both an overall project report for Festivals Edinburgh, and provided a summary of the verified targets for each festival, including our supporting calculations that substantiated and quantified targets from reliable evidence. By sharing this information, we hope that each festival can use it as an internal reference, so the outcomes of our work can strengthen their knowledge base for the future.

Outcomes

The value of carbon target validation is in the creation or finetuning of targets that can form the basis of long-term Net Zero plans. A reliable, precise, and achievable target allows for clear actions to be defined and scheduled in advance, which ensures that the festivals can deliver on their carbon reduction goals. It is also a way of future-proofing sustainability plans – Net Zero and the related carbon accounting are constantly evolving fields of knowledge; the more visible and robust the thought process and methodology used to develop your initial targets, the easier it will be to adapt or expand on them as new best practice emerges.

We are now going to support the festivals to take forward the recommendations in our report by facilitating a workshop to help them design a more consistent approach and methodology that works for them all. 

Here is what Gary Stewart, General Manager for Festivals Edinburgh, said about our work with them to date:

We were pleased with Beyond Green’s continued high-level of service during the second phase of this 12-month project which focused on validating at least 3 carbon reduction targets for eight individual festivals. Throughout this phase, their adaptable and collaborative approach to working with a variety of festivals with different needs ensured that the process and recommendations were valuable to ourselves and the individual festivals.  They were always on hand to offer pragmatic guidance while ensuring the outcomes were robust and credible, and they often went the extra mile to help us achieve our goals. We look forward to future opportunities to work together where their services can support our requirements.”

Gary Stewart, General Manager, Festivals Edinburgh, November 2022

The post Festivals Edinburgh Carbon Target Validation Case Study first appeared on Beyond Green.

In our Winter Newsletter below, you can read more about our Net Zero work, new clients, and what we’ve been up to over the last quarter.

An Interview With Juniper – A Rural Zero Waste Community Project

Our Digital Business Support Assistant Sally Paynter interviewed local business Juniper on their views on Zero Waste in Scotland and the challenges they face as a planet conscious small business trying to change the world, one refill at a time. We love seeing how small businesses can make a difference in their local communities! You can read the interview with Juniper on our website.

Festivals Edinburgh Carbon Target Validation

Following on from our work with Festivals Edinburgh on their Carbon Baseline Verification (Phase 1 of the project), we worked with 8 participating festivals on validating 3 carbon targets for their sustainability plans.

Here is what Gary Stewart, General Manager for Festivals Edinburgh, said about our work with them to date:

New Projects

Aberdeen Performing Arts

Building on our Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) work in 2019, we’re now supporting Aberdeen Performing Arts with their Net Zero Strategy & Carbon Reporting as well as ESOS 2023.

J. Smart & Co. Contractors PLC

We’re extending our support to our clients in the construction sector; we’ll be working closely with the team at J. Smart & Co. Contractors PLC over the coming year with the development of its sustainability strategy.

Looking toward 2023

COP 27 has been and gone, and if there was one key message for enterprises to take from this year’s global gathering to progress climate action it was this: focus on implementation. It is now more important than ever to think about practical steps we can take to become more resilient and be ready for new market demands. Against this backdrop, it is encouraging to see our existing clients such as Anderson Strathern continue with their programme of staff engagement to identify actions for 2023. Read more in our LinkedIn post on COP 27.

The post BG Newsletter – New Projects, COP27, and Carbon Verification first appeared on Beyond Green.