EMS are pleased to announce our first steps towards becoming a carbon neutral business by offsetting all our business mileage with tree planting schemes. Our clients will now be able to engage our wide range of services, with the knowledge that we are committed to offsetting our mileage by funding tree planting schemes.

As an environment consultancy we are mindful of the world in which we live. However, we want 2020 to be a year for positive change and ensure we are an environmentally responsible business.

We analysed the business to evaluate what we could control or change. From this we identified that our vehicle emissions were the largest source of our carbon footprint. For this reason, we decided to make carbon neutral our target for vehicle emissions. The ambitious target is one which we feel reflects our commitment to the environment, and the environment we leave for generations to come.

After identifying that vehicle emissions were our most key pollutant, we began  to explore how we could both improve our efficiency through strategic route planning, improved vehicle maintenance & advanced driving training for staff. We then decided to offset our remaining impact through other environmental initiatives.

Throughout 2020 we will be investing in UK community tree planting projects, and tree planting projects throughout the globe.

Why Are Trees So Important?

Trees are essential for maintaining our climate and biodiversity. Alongside their importance providing habit, they also contribute to our global environment by conserving water, preserving soil and improving air quality. Trees act as a carbon store by absorbing carbon dioxide in the timber as they grow. As some trees can live for over one thousand years, they are able to provide a long-term carbon store, which will last far beyond our lifetimes and continue to absorb carbon dioxide. This huge range of benefits is why we have decided to support tree planting projects in our effort to minimise our carbon footprint.

How Can We Help?

Planting trees in the UK provides a huge range of benefits. These include helping to provide wildlife habit for a huge range of native British wildlife and passing on to future generations a fascinating ecological heritage. Some of the schemes we have chosen to support in the UK also plant trees in school grounds to promote education and appreciation for the environment among school pupils.

We are also supporting international tree planting. Projects throughout the globe including Peru and Kenya support carbon offset, whilst also reducing poverty in local communities. Local people are employed to reforest areas, giving them and their families a stable income. It also equips them with an appreciation for their local environment and its importance for biodiversity, wildlife and sustainability.

In a decade where climate change is the key topic on everyone’s lips, and a growing sense of responsibility to our planet is evident, we felt it was a key aspect which we wanted to tackle in 2020. We hope this is the first step of many we can make within the business.

We aim to move towards further environmental sustainability this year through additional initiatives in other areas of the business. We are also aiming to attain certification to ISO14001 for Environmental Management this year, to help us monitor and record the progress we make as a business.

We hope this commitment will protect and improve the environment but will also help our clients achieve their targets through knowledge that employing EMS on projects will not add to their carbon foot print.

We will be announcing the initiatives we have chosen to support in the coming weeks.