News

Global warming: what are the top 20 contractors promising to do?

February 16th, 2021

With so many of the UK’s largest construction companies revealing targets around carbon emissions, Construction News decided to gather them all together in one place to enable readers to compare.

Targets are based on the publicly available material on carbon reduction, published by companies in the last two years. N/A indicates where a target could not be found. CDP scores are based on the 2020 list. For more information about the relevance of the scores and why some companies do not have them, read our full feature here.

Balfour Beatty

Target: “beyond” net-zero by 2040
Set: 2020
CDP Scores: B (2020) | C (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: A Balfour Beatty sustainability expert: “We know that investors, rating agencies and many of our customers value the disclosures, viewing it as a helpful way of monitoring progress. Some, however, do require us to participate in the CDP, and we look at it as a tool that helps us validate the progress we are making. We intend to use the Science-based Target Initiative (SBTi) approach. This is an independent, rigorous process which provides a clearly defined pathway for us to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in line with the Paris Agreement goals.”

Kier

Target: net-zero across its own operations and supply chain by 2045
Set: 2020
CDP Scores: C (2020) | F (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Kier Group head of sustainability & environment, Jo Gilroy: “It is important to demonstrate our values to stakeholders and this includes our commitment to robust carbon management and mitigation of climate change impacts. As a sustainable business, we see it as our responsibility to report in an accessible and transparent way and to demonstrate publicly that we are acting on our contribution to climate change. We chose to disclose our data to the CDP to become a more transparent business to all internal and external stakeholders. It can be difficult to effectively compare industry peers because of the complexity around carbon and climate change reporting.

Interserve

Target: N/A
Set: N/A
CDP Scores: F (2020) | B (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: An Interserve spokesman says: “Due to the impact of COVID-19, last year’s cyber-attack and the now-completed sale of our support services business, we took a decision not to report on CDP figures but instead focus our efforts on planning to radically reduce our carbon impact and emissions. We currently benchmark our company-wide carbon emissions via the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS). From our last audit in October 2020, we achieved ‘Gold’ status for our initiatives and actual carbon reduction year on year.”

Laing O’Rourke

Target: N/A
Set: N/A
CDP Scores: private submission
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Laing O’Rourke head of corporate affairs for Europe Joel Morris says: “We provide our data to CEMARS. We joined in 2009, established our baseline emissions and developed an environmental action plan to halve our emissions by 2020. At the time, CEMARS carbon footprint exceeded the technical requirements for GHG emissions reporting of CDP. As a member of CEMARS, our emissions inventory is externally verified annually and we have exceeded the target we set, having reduced our emissions by 66 per cent since 2009. We know we and the entire sector need to do more, and believe transparency and reporting is important because it can spur individual companies and entire sectors to do more, more quickly. In the near future, we will publish a new global sustainability strategy that will include targets for achieving net-zero aligned with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the most aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to 1.5°C.”

Morgan Sindall

Target: net-zero by “no later than” 2050 (Contractors Declare)
Set: 2019
CDP Scores: A (2020) | A- (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Morgan Sindall group director of sustainability and procurement Graham Edgell says: “We assess carbon use at all stages of a project, and a building’s lifecycle – from design to construction, to maintenance. We’ve achieved a 60 per cent reduction in our direct and indirect emissions since we began measuring them in 2010, despite growing the business by about one third over that time.”

Galliford Try

Target: N/A
Set: N/A
CDP Scores: F (2020) | F (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: An official spokesman says a plan will be published later this year.

ISG

Target: net-zero by “no later than” 2050 (Contractors Declare)
Set: 2014 (initial targets)
CDP Scores: A- (2020) | A- (2019)
What it says about its targets and how they compare: ISG construction head of sustainability Ross Wood says: “CDP has helped us formalise our reporting structures and processes and is providing the framework for us to capture not only ISG’s carbon footprint but that of our wider supply chain and client activities throughout the duration of projects. Generating a full picture of our carbon impact must include the activities of those partners supporting the common endeavour. Not only is this type of reporting the right thing to do corporately and ethically, but it’s also becoming a much greater area of scrutiny for clients, investors and prospects.”

Amey

Target: net-zero by 2050
Set: 2020
CDP Scores: A (2020) | A (2019) – submits as Ferrovial
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Amey head of social impact Emily Davies says: “We believe both external verification and transparency are integral for organisational commitment and action on climate change. In November 2020, we became signatories to Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment’s (IEMA) pledge to net-zero, an industry commitment that sees UK businesses publicly commit to science-based targets to meet the UK’s 2050 net-zero target and publicly report progress each year.”

Mace

Target: ‘achieved’ net-zero in Dec 2020
Set: Jan 2020
CDP Scores: B- (2020) | C (2019) – private submission shared with CN
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Mace director for responsible business Isabel McAllister says: “Every year we submit our carbon reduction data to CDP and we have been using their guidance to improve how we demonstrate our ambitions and our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint. We use the GHG protocol to measure carbon-reduction actions: from measuring energy use on construction sites and generator fuel to quantifying travel across the business. We recently achieved net-zero carbon, with a 50 per cent carbon reduction across developments and operations in 2020 and a 50 per cent carbon offset. We have committed to reducing our carbon footprint by 10 per cent every year, sharing innovative ideas and working collaboratively with clients to help address their own carbon footprints.”

Skanska UK

Target: net-zero by 2045
Set: 2019
CDP Scores: A- (2020) | A- (2019) – submits as Skanska AG
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Skanska UK director of environment Adam Crossley says: “Internally at Skanska UK, we report at CEO and management level on our net-zero metrics and assess our performance, which includes not only the high-level, net-zero 2045 target but our progress against interim milestones using a variety of metrics, such as absolute emissions reductions and carbon-intensity improvements including estimated emissions from across our supply chain. Ranking the environmental disclosures of different firms is crucial for stakeholders to assess the authenticity with which each firm is approaching their efforts. It is crucial that ranking is done in such a way that facilitates fair comparison because many firms, particularly in the construction industry, engage in vastly different work and varying business models with the corresponding impact on the nature of their carbon footprints.”

Wates

Target: net-zero by 2025
Set: 2020
CDP Scores: N/A
What it says about its targets and how they compare: Wates group SHEQ director John Dunne says: “Wates is committed to achieving zero-carbon targets by 2025 and is using both market and location-based methodology to assess progress. We have been voluntarily disclosing our data within our annual accounts and reports since 2019, a year ahead of requirements, with all data independently verified by the Carbon Trust. We will be working with the SBTi – of which CDP is a partner – to update our data methodology, as we work towards improving our performance around emissions targets. By working with the SBTi, we will seek to align our activities to the global carbon reduction targets laid down in the Paris Agreement.”

For the full story, please click here.