Carbon: Our progress
To reduce the impact of our business on the environment, we take a proactive approach to reducing carbon emissions at source and supporting our supply chain to do the same. Carbon neutral for the eleventh year running in 2023, we prioritise emissions reduction over carbon offsetting as part of our sustainable and long-term approach to climate change.
Our zero-carbon ambition
Launched in 2020, Now or Never encapsulates our sense of urgency around climate change, committing Willmott Dixon to decarbonise our operations by 2030. Our aim is to reduce emissions from our own operations to zero so that we will no longer need to offset our carbon footprint and to help our supply chain partners to do the same by 2040.
By the end of 2023 we had reduced our absolute emissions by 48%, compared to our 2018 baseline. This slowdown in the rate of reduction reflects the scale of our progress so far, with carbon intensity 80% lower than our 2010 benchmark figure.
Despite some challenges to address in the year ahead, we have plans to place reach our target of 2,077tCO2e or a 69% reduction in absolute emissions by the end of 2025.
We take pride in our meticulous approach to measure and understand our carbon footprint and each year we publish our annual performance in this Now or Never report after it has been independently audited by Bureau Veritas. To find out more about our declarations under the Government's Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations and our full carbon footprint data visit the 'Carbon Footprint: Our data' section.
In 2023, Willmott Dixon was recognised by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as a global leader on climate change and transparent carbon reporting, receiving an A- score in our first rating.
Willmott Dixon featured in the Europe's Climate Leaders list 2023, where we scored 67.0 based on our 2022 data, and in the 2024 list, based on our 2023 submission, where our score has increased to 72.2.
We also retained ‘Champion level’ status for our compliance with the Carbon Reduction Code for the Built Environment.
Steps to reduce emissions
In support of our ambition to become a zero-carbon business by 2030, we aim to reduce absolute mileage by 65% and have a 100% electric fleet.
Sustainability is engrained our company culture, with our people’s incentives linked to the company’s carbon performance. 92% of our people say they value working for a company that prioritises sustainability. To encourage the switch to electric vehicles, Willmott Dixon people can claim up to £1,500 to install a charge point at home. After five years, employees are also eligible for a £750 fund for sustainable home improvements.
Salary sacrifice car scheme
In 2023, we reduced business-wide mileage by 37% (since 2018) with 2.2 million miles driven in electric vehicles, saving the business £91k in business and commute mileage reimbursement.
Our salary sacrifice car scheme allows our people to access electric and plug-in hybrid lease cars. In 2023, 88% of our people using the scheme were driving electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The scheme won ‘Transport/Fleet Management Project of the Year’ at the edie Awards 2023 (below). To support our people to make the switch, all offices have charge points, where feasible, are continuing to promote charge points on sites and support people financially to install charging at home.
Green electricity
When we are in control of the energy supplied to our sites and offices, we procure 100% renewable electricity contracts, as opposed to the default out-of-contract tariffs, which use a mix of fuels and significantly increase carbon emissions. Our consultant, Planet First, which is also a social enterprise, helps us procure fixed natural renewable tariffs. We estimate that by adopting this process in 2023, we saved over £1.1million in electricity costs and 1.4million tCO2e.
Site energy efficiency
We have a mandatory site set up procedure in place that helps to ensure our cabins operate efficiently, reducing energy consumption and improving cabin conditions. Guidance includes cabin zoning and companywide energy monitoring data to ensure power is only used when and where needed.
Our analysis, revealed that half our site electricity consumption comes from site cabins, and we benchmark energy performance over time, conducting 90 site audits in 2023 to ensure best practice. In 2023, we used thermal imaging to carry out targeted cabin zoning. We reduced energy during non-operational hours by 164tCO2e or £275k in energy bills annually.
Fuel use
We continue to mandate hybrid generators using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), which is a cleaner-burning biofuel and can reduce emissions by up to 90% compared to fossil diesel. HVO helps to reduce fuel usage and carbon emissions in scenarios where we cannot obtain early connection to the grid. Early grid connection is always sought after to prioritise the use of renewable electricity across all our sites. In 2023, we replaced 61% of our diesel usage with HVO. This resulted in a 618-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions. We continue to work with our fuel providers to ensure all our fuel is responsibly sourced.
Bureau Veritas UK
We commission Bureau Veritas UK to verify our sustainability performance against our Key Performance Indicators. Read our Bureau Veritas statement on our 2023 performance here.
TCFD (Taskforce for Climate Related Financial Disclosure)
The TCFD is a framework to help public companies and other organisations more effectively disclose climate-related risks and opportunities through their existing reporting processes. In 2023, we published our first TCFD, which is available in our Annual Report and Accounts.
Willmott Dixon conducts an annual political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) risk assessment. In 2023 we developed a process for identifying and quantifying climate-related risks, which we will look to embed in business processes in 2024.
Carbon neutral since 2012
Until we have reduced our emissions to zero, we continue to offset our unavoidable emissions and have now been carbon neutral for our own operations since 2012.
To offset our 2022 emissions, we invested in the Northern Uganda Borehole Rehabilitation Project (below) and the Sumatra Merang Peatland Project in Indonesia. We self-certify our carbon neutrality in accordance with PAS2060 offsetting 5,716 tCO2e for 2022. We will offset our 2023 carbon in 2024.