At the start of 2020, Greengage announced our formal commitment to the United Nations ‘Climate Neutral Now’ Pledge. As part of this continued commitment to being a net-zero company, we are now pleased to announce that as part of World Green Building Week, Greengage have become a signatory to the World Green Building Council’s (WGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.
The commitment aims “to maximise the chances of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees, and ideally below 1.5 degrees, by drastically reducing operational carbon from buildings”. Currently a total of 76 organisations, 28 cities and 6 states & regions have signed up to the commitment, responsible for over 32 million m2 of total floor area.
By achieving net zero by 2030, this will result in the saving of ~3.4 million tonnes of CO2 (tCO2e) each year.
There are five components to our commitment consisting of the following:
- Commit: All buildings within Greengage’s direct control to operate at net zero carbon by 2030, and all buildings by 2050;
- Disclose: Measure, disclose and assess annual asset and portfolio energy demand and carbon emissions;
- Action: Develop and implement a decarbonisation roadmap outlining key actions and milestones;
- Verification: Demonstrate enhanced energy performance, reduced carbon emissions and progress towards net zero carbon assets and portfolio; and
- Advocate: Demonstrate leadership to support the wider transition towards net zero carbon buildings.
As a tenant of our premises our ability to impact the fabric and build-up of our offices remains limited to operational impacts. However, this doesn’t prevent us from seeking to reduce our overall consumption of resources, seek less impacting options and to offset our impact where not otherwise feasible. Currently, Greengage are achieving net zero by offsetting our 23 tCO2e through two providers: UNFCCC CER and Forest Carbon.
Both with the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century and the demand becoming ever greater to ‘build back better’, Greengage will help lead the growing call for a green recovery to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and to prove its feasibility to others considering taking the same step. You can find our commitment profile can be found on the World Green Building Council Website.
