Sodexo UK & Ireland has announced that it has seen a 33% reduction in its scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since its baseline year of 2017, equating to over 300,000 tCO2e.
The reduction has been achieved by implementing a continuous improvement strategy including the design and introduction of a carbon trajectory tool to support the analysis of Sodexo’s GHG emissions to identify key actions and reduction levers to reach its climate goals.
As part of this strategy the company reviewed its 2017 baseline – a practice recommended by SBTi. Re-baselining gives a more accurate picture of a company’s carbon footprint, and it urges other businesses to continuously review their baseline to make sure it’s accurate and relevant for comparing current activities against. This supports transparency, authenticity and rigor.
As knowledge and systems evolve, the company’s understanding of the data and how it is used has improved. This, coupled with changes in the organisational structure, have led to a revised total baseline figure of 928,160 tCO2e.
This 928,160 tCO2e represents the amount by which Sodexo needs to reduce its emissions to reach net zero.
It reports it is on track to meet its near-term target.
By the end of its fiscal year 2022, the company had reduced its emissions by one-third against the revised 2017 baseline. There was an expected dip of emissions during the pandemic and an increase of emissions since fiscal year 2021 as the organisation transitions post-pandemic. By using its data, it has determined that the energy used on client sites to deliver its services, its supply chain and employee commuting are where the majority of emissions are generated.
The following decarbonisation measures and projects have contributed to reduce the company’s emissions:
- Sodexo joined the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative and committed to switching to 100% renewable electricity globally by 2025 at its directly controlled sites. In the UK&I, 92% of electricity was procured from renewable sources in FY22.
- In November 2021, it launched a 100% hybrid and electric vehicle company car policy across the UK. All diesel and petrol cars have been replaced with electric and hybrid alternatives.
- It continues to deploy its food waste prevention programme, WasteWatch, to reduce food waste by 50% by 2025, five years ahead of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.
- It undertook a net zero survey with its supply chain to understand the climate strategies and progress to date of our key suppliers (including SMEs) to inform its wider net zero supply chain engagement strategy.
The company’s next key milestone in the UK & Ireland will be to reduce its GHG emissions by 55% against the 2017 baseline year across all three scopes by 2030.
* Sodexo Limited commits to reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 55% by FY2030 from a FY2017 base year.
** Sodexo Limited commits to reduce absolute scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions 90% by FY2040 from a FY2017 base year.
