Carbon Reduction Plan

Current Year’s Emissions Reporting

Reporting Year: 2023 (1st November 2022 – 31st October 2023)

Emissions Reduction Targets

To ensure that we continually reduce our carbon emissions and achieve Net Zero by our target date of 2040, we have developed the following carbon reduction targets. Reductions listed below are against the current reporting year.

Remove gas heating by 2030
Work with landlords to remove existing gas infrastructure and replace it with electric alternatives.

Reduce emissions from electricity consumption by 12% each year
2.09 tCO2e reduction over the next 5 years

Reduce emissions from homeworking by 8% each year
39.74 tCO2e reduction over the next 5 years

Reduce emissions from commuting by 10% each year
3.29 tCO2e reduction over the next 5 years

Reduce emissions from business travel by 8% each year
78.15 tCO2e reduction over the next 5 years

Reduce emissions from capital goods by 10% each year
43.41 tCO2e reduction over the next 5 years

Based on these targets and our milestones, we project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 314.21 tCO2e by FY27/28. This is a reduction of 34.38% from the current reporting year. Projections are based on market-based emissions.

Forecasted progress against these targets is detailed in the graph below.

Carbon Reduction Projects

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

Obtained ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System.

Implemented renewable electricity at our leased offices.

In October 2022, all permanent members of staff were gifted an electric blanket to help reduce heating consumption/costs and to reduce carbon emissions whilst working from home.

In December 2023, all permanent members of staff were offered the option of being sent an oodie and thermal socks which is an item of warm clothing that can be used when working at home to help reduce the need for additional heating.

Hired a full time ESG & Social Value Lead (February 2023).

Offset 100% of our carbon emissions for our base year and previous reporting year through TravelPerk and Gold Standard initiatives through Dodo.

As part of the refurbishment of Hippo’s head office in Leeds in 2023 we have disconnected our gas supply, replaced old fluorescent tube lighting with LED, installed new energy efficient hot water boilers to all kitchen tap units, installed PIR movement sensors in low traffic areas, and repurposed as much existing furniture as we could, including all office desk chairs, the majority of meeting room seating and all our existing desk frames -installing new tops only. We also procured several upcycled items from reputable local providers including our pool table, leather armchairs, meeting pods, phone booth and storage cupboard.

Ongoing Carbon Reduction Initiatives

Fully maintain HVAC systems to ensure zero leaks of F-gases.

Launched a salary sacrifice electric car scheme providing a more affordable solution for Hippos to move to using an electric vehicle. To date, 16 Hippos have enrolled in this scheme.
Our employee-led environmental community, Green Hippos, provides employees with information and support on how they can personally reduce their carbon footprint at work and at home.

Introduced 2 volunteer days per permanent employee per year which can be used on sustainability and social value initiatives.

Implementation of cycle to work scheme. To date, 8 Hippos have enrolled in this scheme.

Use of Google products as Google matches 100% of its annual electricity consumption with a purchase of renewable energy.

Implemented Hippo “Ways of Working” which identifies what work is best achieved face-to-face with clients and what work can be done remotely in order to reduce unnecessary business travel.

New life for phones and laptops – where laptops are no longer needed for business use but are in good condition, these can either be purchased by Hippos or are donated to charity. To date, 51 laptops have been donated to Solidaritech, and 31 laptops and 9 mobile phones purchased by Hippos.

Offset 100% of our carbon emissions for this current year through TravelPerk and Gold Standard initiatives through Dodo.

Reduced waste paper by sending festive ecards with one tree planted for every card sent.

5 trees planted on each permie’s work anniversary and offer a tree planting option as part of our flexible benefits scheme. To date, 2,420 trees have been planted.

In the future we hope to implement further measures such as:

Moving new leased offices to renewable electricity.

Assessing new serviced offices against sustainability and accessibility criteria.

Working with landlords of our existing serviced offices to request that they move to renewable energy.

Enhancing our waste management process to include measuring waste volumes in our leased offices and identifying reduction/recycling opportunities that will reduce the waste we send to landfill.

Identifying and working with suppliers that prioritise recycling and minimising energy and waste, and also allow us to measure our waste emissions more accurately.

Working with our carbon footprint measurement supplier to introduce the ability to capture if people working from home have renewable electricity so that we can look to introduce this data point to more accurately measure our carbon footprint and track if individuals move to renewable energy.

Consider potential incentives to encourage Hippos to switch to renewable energy at home.

Rolling out Environmental Awareness (mandatory) and Sustainability and Climate Change (optional) training to our Hippos to support more environmentally friendly ways of working and how they can reduce their carbon footprint.