Carbon statement
We are committed to taking action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions down to net zero by 2050.
All of our work involves helping organisations use digital to deliver outcomes that measurably improve people’s lives. We promote conscientious design and development practices that produce good user experiences and high performance, and our approach is inherently mindful of social and ecological impact. In order to progress towards being net zero, we are undertaking a combination of emission limitation, reduction and elimination.
As a company we are committed to public disclosure of our emissions. We began calculating, monitoring and publishing our emissions data in 2022. We are continuing to account for our emissions and progress in reduction and elimination on an annual basis. Using this data, we are reviewing our goals and actions each year in order to make our commitments stronger and our corresponding activities more effective.
Baseline Emissions Footprint
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
We had a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory carried out by an independent third-party expert (C-Free) covering January - December 2022 (followed by a realignment report conducted by Groundwork East), which serves as our Baseline emissions calculation. The results were as follows:
In 2023 we had a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory carried out by an independent third-party expert (Groundwork East) covering January - December 2023. The results were as follows:
Current Emissions Reporting: 2024
We have had a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory carried out by an independent third-party expert (Groundwork East) covering January - December 2024. The results were as follows:
Carbon Reduction Targets and Plans
Acknowledging the climate crisis and committing to net zero are important things to do; achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions is practically very difficult.
In the immediate term, Public Digital is taking action to limit any increase in future carbon emissions, while using offsets to neutralise existing emissions.Our steps to reduce our carbon emissions are overseen by our Management Team, and are integrated into a holistic Environmental, Social and Governance efficiencies policy.
In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted carbon reduction targets. We have decided to offset 100% of our estimated emissions. We are targeting becoming certified as a carbon neutral company (in line with PAS 2060) by mid-2025.
We have set an initial goal of reducing our emissions against each of our intensity metrics (per per client hour, FTE person, and per £10k of turnover) annually. We will review this year on year with the goal of becoming net zero in advance of 2050.
We project that the intensity of our carbon emissions will decrease over the next six years to 3.7tCO2e per person by 2030. This is a reduction of 47%.
Progress against our target can be seen in the graph below:
Carbon reduction, offsetting and neutrality are positive steps on the journey towards net zero emissions. As our data and experience improve, we will tighten up our practices and push ourselves for more ambitious goals.
Carbon Reduction Projects
Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives:
The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented and in progress since the 2022 baseline.
Maintaining our use of office space that is powered renewable energy, including securing certification of the energy’s origin, and increasing the energy efficiency of hardware and software used in our delivery work
Minimising staff travel by delivering services remotely wherever suitable
Limiting air travel to long haul, using public transport and electric vehicles for transit whenever possible, selecting accommodation that can evidence sustainability practices, and exploring sustainable travel booking options
Identifying a reduction target for carbon emissions per person as an intensity unit
Compiling advice and activities to support employees in making ethical and sustainable choices in the course of their work and personal lives, including switching to renewable energy providers and opting in to salary-sacrifice schemes
Developing our capabilities to advise and support clients in reducing the planetary impacts of their operations through technology and internet ways of working
Offsetting our carbon emissions
The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equate to 1.2 tCO2e per person, a 15% reduction against the 2022 baseline.
In the future, we hope to implement further measures, we are continuing to review these and to put them into practice, and we look forward to sharing our progress, as well as collaborating and learning alongside our peers and clients, to improve our collective efforts toward healthier environments and fairer societies.
For an organisation like ours some overseas travel is unavoidable and there is not yet a dependable path to net zero aviation. We want to eliminate our emissions without relying on technologies which take carbon out of the atmosphere, which are currently still at an early development stage but we continue to closely monitor aviation and sequestration technologies, welcoming the innovation in these areas and looking for opportunities to use them to further reduce our emissions.
Declaration and Sign Off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standards 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 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).
Ben Terrett, CEO, on the 12 of June of 2025