January – December 2024
Commitment to achieving Net Zero
thebigword is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by December 2049.
We will work to achieve our targets and continue to monitor our emissions, we do however understand that not all emissions can be reduced to zero, so for those that remain we will commit to offset as we have been doing in the past 2 years with the tree planting initiatives.
We also support the 25 Year Environment Plan to Improve the Environment and will continue to work towards our targets and in line with regulations such as ESOS and SECR.
Emissions Footprint
Baseline: We have been monitoring our emissions for the past 7-8 years. We are using 2023 data as a baseline for our calculation.
Current: Our data covers measurements collected for our Head Office in Leeds, UK.
We’ve used utility bills for energy and gas; supplier reports for travel data; and our Accounts Department for remaining transport data.
We’ve used the 2023 and 2024 UK Government GHG Conversion Factors and suggested template to calculate our emissions. We’ve used the financial control approach with our previous year as our base year.
Emissions Targets
Our targets are set in line with our environmental aspects and reviewed once a year:
Our targets are aligned with our environmental aspects and are reviewed annually.
We monitor—and where possible, aim to reduce—CO₂ emissions resulting from gas and energy use, waste and water consumption, travel, and A4 paper usage. We encourage staff to use digital documents for both internal and external meetings. Where printing is necessary, IT has configured printers to default to double-sided, black-and-white printing.
At the end of 2023 (November/December), we made operational changes by asking several staff members to return to the office. On average, 40–45 employees are now present in the office daily, which has led to an increase in emissions in 2024.
Another contributing factor to the rise in emissions—particularly from travel—is the expansion of our operations to the US toward the end of 2024. As a result, we anticipate a further increase in emissions in 2025 as we adjust to our new normal.
We remain committed to environmental stewardship and are exploring options to offset our 2024 emissions. Further details will be included in next year’s report.
Carbon Offsets
We are looking into options to offset last year’s emissions but haven’t agreed on any actions yet. Regarding our offset from 2023:
Declaration and Sign-off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standards for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Some of our monitoring and reporting measures:
- Internal Audit
- CO2 emission monitoring
- External audit – ISO14001 EMS
- Annual Streamline Environmental Cardon Reporting
- Annual EMS Presentation with all our objects and targets assessment
- Annual Carbon Reduction Plan
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting1.
Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements. This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).
Signed on behalf of the Supplier:
Josh Gould
CEO
