Our Carbon Emission Reduction Target

DETA Consulting works closely with many of New Zealand’s largest energy users, and carbon emitters, to improve their carbon footprint through improved efficiencies across their organisations. We are proud of the impact that we have reducing New Zealand’s carbon footprint – to date our work has reduced carbon emissions across New Zealand industry by more than 40,000 tonnes per year. Further, we are now working with governments in the Pacific Islands to develop decarbonisation strategies.

While it’s great that we are achieving these results, we haven’t stopped often enough to focus on what to do about our own carbon footprint, which is largely dominated by air travel. Due to growth in our business, Our carbon footprint was expected to increase year-on-year, which is a concern for us as we strive to lead by example. Developing an effective carbon management strategy is essential for us, as we aim to reduce emissions at the source. For us, it's not about immediate offsetting; instead, we focus on maximizing efficiency within our current capabilities to ensure long-term sustainability.

Our carbon footprint for the 2019 calendar year was 62.1 tCO2e, which consists of the following:

• Scope 1 emissions 1.9 tCO2e
• Scope 2 emissions 3.9 tCO2e
• Scope 3 emissions 56.6 tCO2e
• Carbon offsets 0 tCO2e

We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and have set new reduction targets, based on an absolute emissions reduction approach, and following the methodology defined by the Science Based Targets Initiative. Our ambitious targets are as follows and are based on our 2019 footprint:

• Reducing Scope 1 & 2 emissions to limit warming to 1.5 °C. This equates to a 46.2% absolute reduction by 2030.
• Reducing Scope 3 emissions to limit warming to well below 2 °C. This equates to a 27.5% absolute reduction by 2030.

In order for us to meet our annual carbon budget for 2020, we are rolling out a range of initiatives, including:

• Encouraging less travel to customers sites, and engaging selected consulting projects on a ‘Skype and telecon only’ basis
• Refining our Rental Car policy so that EVs or low-emissions rental cars are hired depending on the location and journey type
• Reviewing and optimising our air travel patterns, such as combining trips to reduce flights
• Reporting our monthly carbon emissions alongside our carbon budget as part of our Board papers
• Holding two cycle campaigns per year to encourage staff commuting to work by bike
• Reviewing our supply chain and identifying opportunities to switch to low-carbon alternatives

We are looking forward to taking on the challenge of decarbonising our business, while continuing to support our clients on their own low-carbon journeys.