Qualifying Explanatory Statement in support of PAS 2060:2014
Self-certification for 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020
2020
1. Introduction
This document forms the Qualifying Explanatory Statement to demonstrate that Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd has achieved carbon neutrality in accordance with PAS 2060:2014 for the period of 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020, with commitment to maintain carbon neutrality through to 31st Dec 2021.
PAS 2060 Information Requirement | Information as it relates to Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd |
Individual responsible | Frances Ellington |
Job title of responsible individual | Business Development Director |
Entity making PAS 2060 declaration | Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd |
Subject of PAS 2060 declaration | Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd, which includes all upstream, core, and downstream processes that are estimated to be material, and the quantification of which is technically feasible, practicable and cost effective. |
Description of subject | Accounting, Advisory, Bookkeeping and professional training. Based in Passivhaus enterprise hub in Norwich with 8 employees. |
Rationale for selection of the subject | The scope of the greenhouse gas assessment underlying this declaration is direct and indirect emissions, based on the operational control principle defined in the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol, Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. |
Type of conformity assessment | ESV-3: Self-validated – unified (achievement and commitment) |
Describe the actual reductions achieved | Offsetting over 100% of the Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd carbon footprint |
Baseline period | 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020 |
Achievement Period | 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020 |
Commitment Period | 1st Jan 2021 – 31st Dec 2021 |
This Qualifying Explanatory Statement contains information pertaining to the subject’s carbon neutrality. Any and all information herein is believed to be correct at the time of publishing. Should any information come to light that would affect the validity of the statements herein, this document will be updated to accurately reflect the current status of any carbon neutral statement made by Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd.
2. Declaration of Achievement of Carbon Neutrality
PAS 2060 Information Requirement | Information as it relates to Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd |
State the period during which the entity is demonstrating achievement of carbon neutrality of the subject | 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020 |
Location-based (gross) carbon footprint of the subject for the application period | 13.2 metric tonnes C02e |
Location of the GHG emissions report supporting this claim | Section 3, GHG Inventory |
Location of the details describing the carbon offsets | Section 9, Offsets |
Location of management plan | Section 6, Carbon Management Plan |
Name of senior representative | Frances Ellington |
Signature of senior representative
| |
Date | 29/03/2021 |
3. GHG Inventory
Summary table of total Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions for Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd for the application period 1st Jan 2020 – 31st Dec 2020.
Emissions category | Scope | GHG Emissions (tonnes CO2e) |
Generation of Electricity, Heat, or Steam | 1 | 0.9 |
Purchased Electricity: Location-based | 2 | 1.4 |
Purchased Electricity: Market-based | 2 | 1.4 |
Purchased Goods and Services | 3 | 5.4 |
Fuel and Energy-Related Activities Not Included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | 3 | 0.1 |
Waste Generated in Operations | 3 | 0.001 |
Business Travel | 3 | 0.1 |
Employee Commuting and Homeworking | 3 | 5.3 |
Excluded categories
Emissions category | Scope | Reason |
Physical or chemical Processing | 1 | Entity does not manufacture, nor process chemicals and materials. |
Transportation of Materials, Products, Waste, and Employees | 1 | Entity does not own the vehicles used for transportation. |
Fugitive Emissions | 1 | Entity does not produce fugitive emissions. |
Capital Goods | 3 | Entity does not produce any goods that are used in the production of other goods. |
Upstream Transportation and Distribution | 3
| Calculation is not feasible because there are minimal goods or raw materials upstream that are physical and require transporting |
Upstream Leased Assets | 3 | Assets leased by the entity will have already been included in scopes 1 and 2 when relevant. |
Downstream Transportation and Distribution | 3 | Calculation is not feasible. |
Processing of Sold Products | 3 | Products sold by the entity do not require processing. |
Use of Sold Products | 3 | Use of products sold by the entity does not produce waste. |
End-of-Life Treatment of Sold Products | 3 | Products sold by the entity do not produce waste. |
Downstream Leased Assets | 3 | Entity does not own any assets leased to other entities. |
Franchises | 3 | Entity does not have any franchises. |
Investments | 3 | Entity does not have any investments in other entities. |
4. Standard and methodology used
The Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd GHG Inventory was created in accordance with the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol, Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. The GHG Protocol Corporate –value chain (Scope 3) Standard, and the supplementary Technical Guidance for calculating Scope 3 Emissions (version 1.0) were used in conjunction with the Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard to support our efforts to report on indirect emissions from value chain activities. These methods are widely recognized and recommended for the reporting of GHG emissions for PAS 2060.
The emission conversion factors used to calculate the GHG emissions of each activity were taken from the 2020 UK Govt GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting (version 1.0). In accordance with guidance provided by the conversion factors document, we’ve used the emissions factors for the calendar year in which the greatest portion of our data falls. The GWPs used in the calculations of CO2e provided in the conversion factors document are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report over a 100-year period, as required by PAS 2060. When we required spend based factors, these were taken from UK Govt Environmental Reporting Guidelines (2019) Annex E.
For an explanation of the procedures used to calculate the footprint ask Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd. for the procedures statement.
Uncertainty
Due to the nature of the business and limited access to primary data, a large proportion of Triple Bottom Line Accounting Ltd’s carbon footprint required estimation to calculate. As such, the overall footprint has a reasonably high level of uncertainty. Where estimates were made, reasonable effort was taken to preclude underestimation.
5. Offsets
15 tonnes of CO2e standard certified offsets were purchased. This totaled the calculated scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 emissions. Offsets were purchased from the following projects:
Project name | Safe Water Access in Rwanda |
Project type | Domestic Energy Efficiency |
Volume of credits | 15 |
Location | Gatsibo District, Rwanda |
Standard | Gold Standard |
Serial number | GS1-1-RW-GS3306-16-2018-18752-1506-1520 |
Retirement date | 15th Jan 2021 |
Retirement registry | GoldStandard |
6. Carbon Management Plan
Target
The annual target for reducing the carbon emissions for TBLA will be 7% per year. The stretch target is 10% per year. This is expected to generate an overall reduction of 50% by the year 2030 in line with the SME Climate Change Commitments. This was agreed in the TBLA team meeting by a consensus.
Actions
Working from Home: Energy Consumption (including electricity and heating)
All employees to consider the consumption of energy in their homes in order to reduce carbon emissions where they can. This might include moving to a green electricity supplier or a supplier that helps to offset the carbon from gas heating by tree planting.
Commuting to the TBLA office
The team will consider individually and as a workforce what is best for the employee in terms of social interactions, getting work done and professional development. This will involve ongoing discussions on what works for the company regarding productivity, team meetings, costs, office use etc.
A salary sacrifice, to support the lease of an EV was discussed. This needs to be equitable and fair, particularly for those who can walk or cycle to the office and would not need an EV. It might be that a pool EV will be leased by the company to be used by those who have to commute (due to lack of regular public transport). The EV can be charged at work for the minimal cost of £8 a month under the current rates of The Enterprise Centre car park. This will be discussed again in team meetings over April and May 2021. Two of the company directors currently lease one EV through the business which is their only vehicle.
Review of suppliers and Purchases
Triple Bottom Line Accounting has introduced a new sustainable purchasing policy. This can be viewed on our website: https://triplebottomlineaccounting.com/sustainable-purchasing-policy/
It requires sundries to be purchased locally when possible. Through supplier selection and direct engagement:
We will favour suppliers that actively reduce their environmental footprint through:
- Conservation of resources, including the use of energy, water and materials
- Waste minimisation, both within their operations and through reduction of packaging
- Reducing the impact of deliveries and maximising local sourcing
- Score well in the environment, sustainability and animal sections of Ethical Consumer
We will check suppliers using recognised tools such as
- Subscription to https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ £29.95 annual subscription and /or
- Checking if the supplier is listed in CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) https://www.cdp.net/en/companies/companies-scores
- B Corps accreditation (if up to date) as a guarantee of an ethical sustainable company
Where there is limited choice[1] on ethical/ environmental alternatives, we will directly engage with supplier to seek action plans for improvements.
Effective tools for big impact engagement can be found in Ethical Consumer campaigns and boycotts section https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts
Software purchasing
Triple Bottom Line Accounting subscribes to a range of cloud accounting software packages and bookkeeping packages to meet the range of clients’ needs. Throughout 2021 there will be a rationalisation to reduce the number of platforms that employees need to learn. This rationalisation should improve efficiency as well as enable reductions in carbon emissions. To start this off, we will write to software suppliers asking for their carbon reduction commitments or if they are already carbon neutral. Their answers will inform our choices moving forward. We will prioritise and promote to our clients those who host software in data centres that use renewable energy.
Personal Commitments and Individual Climate Advocacy
Triple Bottom Line Accounting will continue to educate all employees about the climate emergency, climate action, mitigation and adaptation. We will regularly discuss personal commitments and pledges following guidelines such as those outlined by Imperial College: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/climate-action/. The company recognises that one of the most powerful actions is to share knowledge and CO2e reduction targets and activities with others.
Corporate Climate Advocacy
Triple Bottom Line Accounting will publicise its carbon-neutral status. It will share positive actions taken and pledges agreed via its website, social media platforms, and ongoing discussions with clients and suppliers. The Company Impact Narrative has been published and will be regularly updated. The company has just launched a new service to help clients measure and improve a range of ESG impacts and write their authentic narratives to share their story. We hope this will set up a chain of positive actions to reduce emissions and even draw down carbon from the atmosphere. We believe that contributing to social justice by subsidising our not-for-profit clients, who are helping the vulnerable and under-represented people within their communities, will have an indirect but positive impact on mitigating the inevitable consequences of the climate emergency.
[1] For example, where buying an inferior but more ethical alternative would compromise our professional standards to an unacceptable degree