Commercial, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  January 25, 2021

EY aims to be carbon negative in 2021

EY, the global organization of Ernst & Young, announced on Jan. 25 that it has set an ambition to be carbon negative in 2021 by setting targets to significantly reduce its absolute emissions and removing and offsetting more carbon than it emits. This new ambition builds on the global organization's achievement of carbon neutrality in December 2020 and underscores the EY commitment to the environment and to driving long-term, sustainable growth.

EY set out the seven key components of its plans to not only become carbon negative but to reduce total emissions by 40%, consistent with a science-based target, and achieve net zero in 2025. Key elements of the ambition include:

• Reducing business travel emissions by 35% 
• Earning membership to the RE100
• Structuring electricity supply VPPAs to introduce more electricity than EY consumes 
• Reducing the amount of carbon emitted when carrying out EY client work
• Removing from the atmosphere or offsetting more carbon than EY emits
• Helping EY clients profitably decarbonize their businesses 
• Requiring 75% of EY suppliers, by spend, to set science-based targets 

"We believe that combatting climate change is a vital element of building a better working world,” Carmine Di Sibio, EY global chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “While this challenge is unique and different for each organization, we are inspired by those that are setting ambitious targets despite the difficulties they face. EY people are passionate about tackling big challenges and, with the power of 300,000 of them, we will not only transform EY to become a leader in sustainability but also help EY clients do the same."

The announcement follows other actions EY has taken to reduce the organization's environmental impact and drive sustainable growth. These include two recent initiatives in collaboration with HRH The Prince of Wales's Sustainable Markets Initiative; The S30, a group of 30 of the world's leading C-suite sustainability leaders focused on accelerating business action on sustainability and joining the "Terra Carta" - a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector. The EY organization is also playing a leading role in the World Economic Forum's International Business Council, which has developed a core set of common metrics and disclosures on non-financial factors for investors and other stakeholders.

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