Our carbon reduction plan
We are committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040.
Download the pdf version of our carbon reduction plan.
Last updated: October 2023
Commitment to achieving Net Zero
Jisc is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of the government target.
We are currently working to develop a new sustainability strategy and environmental management system. All emissions reported and future plans include the entities under Jisc’s financial control (Jisc Services Limited and Jisc Commercial Limited).
Baseline emissions footprint
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
Baseline year: to 31 July 2020
Jisc began collecting emissions data in accordance with the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirement for our financial year ending 31 July 2020. We recalculated our baseline in the year ending 2022 due to organisational changes and the availability of additional data.
Purchased electricity from facilities and data centres have been reclassified into Scope 3 category 8 upstream leased assets as per GHG Protocol Guidance. This has been amended in our baseline emissions footprint.
| Emissions | Total (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 0.00 |
| Scope 2 | 27.06 |
| Scope 3 (included sources) | Waste generation: 0.22 Business travel: 212.73 Employee commuting: 58.16 Downstream transportation: 0.81 Total: 271.92 |
| Total emissions | 298.98 |
Current emissions reporting
| Emissions | Total (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 0.00 |
| Scope 2 | 15.32 |
| Scope 3 (included sources) | Waste generation: 0.33 Business travel: 508.87 Employee commuting: 68.96 Downstream transportation: 4.05 Scope 3 total: 582.21 |
| Total emissions | 597.53 |
Category 4 (upstream transportation and distribution) has been excluded as the data is not available. We will work with procurement to consider whether category 4 emissions could be captured through changes in process and cost allocation software.
The organisation has seen a number of changes over the past year, including an increase in staff numbers from our merger with HESA and a return to normal levels of staff travel and events after the COVID-19 pandemic. Having identified a number of gaps in our 2021/22 data we have worked with colleagues to build a more comprehensive data set, including emissions from WEEE waste and additional leased asset data such as data centres. Furthermore, for transparency and aligned reporting purposes, hotel stays have been included in category 6 business travel. These factors mean our scope 3 emissions have increased for 2022/23.
Jisc’s full carbon footprint report can be found in our annual sustainability report.
Emissions reduction targets
We have made the commitment to be net zero by 2040. This includes emissions in scope, including gas, electricity, business travel and staff commuting.
We will be net zero across our remaining scope 3 emissions, including our supply chain, transport and distribution, waste and electrical use of our leased assets by 2050. We plan to put interim targets in place to ensure sufficient progress is made and will work towards aligning with the Science Based Target Initiative in future.
Carbon reduction projects
Completed carbon reduction initiatives
The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented during our reporting year, August 2022 to July 2023:
- Published our Net Zero Roadmap which outlines our approach to reducing emissions and sets out our plans for future projects
- Aligned our sustainability impact and future strategy to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Built sustainability into procurement processes including environment and net zero questions as part of the tender process; the first set of tenders have been evaluated based on their environmental credentials
- Introduced an electric car scheme for staff, alongside the existing cycle to work scheme
- Recycled over 370 electronic items
- Sent less than 1% of our domestic and electronic waste from our offices to landfill
- Continued to produce green energy from onsite solar power in our Bristol office, generating 58,856 kWh of solar energy since November 2019
- Increased internal communications and engagement across the business through new intranet pages, blog posts and all staff presentations on our new approach to sustainability
- Recruited a sustainability subject specialist to provide member support in the sector, which will include vision for sustainable change workshops and self-service advice in the form of online reports, guides, and blog articles
- Collaborated with EAUC and UCISA to look at scope 3 emissions in the IT supply chain, including several workshops and presentations at conferences
- Advanced the Honeywell Forge project in our Bristol office to understand how buildings in the sector can be optimised to meet zero targets
Planned carbon reduction initiatives
Over the next 12 months we plan to build on our existing knowledge and expand our new approach to sustainability across the organisation by undertaking the following:
- Develop a sustainability programme to incorporate sustainability across the organisation and measure and report collective impact
- Work to adopt an environmental management system to ISO14001 standard to provide the framework for monitoring, measuring and reporting across all environmental areas including emissions. ISO14064 will be used as the tool for verifying emission data to ensure robustness and assurance when publicly reporting progress towards net zero
- Establish an energy strategy to reduce emissions from our operations
- Deliver a sustainability training programme to ensure staff are well informed and understand the scope of sustainability and how activities can help us towards our net zero target
- Run a pilot project to measure the emissions of several of our products and services, including the Janet network
- Explore revision to the estates management record to incorporate the standardised carbon emission framework and improve user experience
- Continue to collaborate with the sector on projects to understand the environmental impact of IT/digital
- Embed sustainability into advisory activities, providing comprehensive guidance on incorporating sustainable practices into digital strategies
- Establish and maintain an environmental sustainability online community aimed at fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and support among individuals and institutions in the FE and HE sectors
Declaration and sign off
This carbon reduction plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for carbon reduction plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for carbon reduction plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported (where available) in accordance with the published reporting standard for carbon reduction plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
This carbon reduction plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).
This statement was signed on behalf of Heidi Fraser-Krauss, trustee and chief executive, Jisc. Date: 4 October 2023