Sopra Steria has responded to the call from the United Nations for businesses to support governments in addressing climate change.
Sopra Steria has responded to the call from the United Nations for businesses to support governments in addressing climate change by aligning its targets for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to those required to limit the rise in global warming to 1.5°C. In doing so it has revised the targets that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) had approved in May 2017 and obtained the SBTi’s approval for the new targets.
This approval rewards the long-term strategy that Sopra Steria, a European leader in consulting, digital services and software development, has embedded environmental sustainability as a ‘business as usual’ function in its operations, supply chain and its services to clients.
With these new targets Sopra Steria has committed to reducing its absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from offices and on-site data centres by 42% and its scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel and off-site data centres by 21% by 2025 from a 2015 base year. Per employee, our objective for scopes 1, 2 and 3 (business travel and off-site data centres) is to reduce emissions by 48% by 2025 from the 2015 base year. This 2025 goal will keep the company on track for an 85% reduction in its emissions per employee by 2040 from the 2015 base year.
Sopra Steria has also committed to ensuring that its key suppliers – who represent at least 70% of GHG emissions in its supply chain – control their GHG emissions and set reduction targets by 2025 for 90% of them.
Science-based targets are emissions reduction targets in line with what the latest climate science says is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement - to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses companies’ targets.
As part of its strategy for meeting these targets, Sopra Steria aims to use energy efficiently, switch to renewable energy and leverage technology to reduce travel, switching to lower-carbon modes where possible. In 2018, 78% of the Group's electricity consumption was covered by renewable energies. Sopra Steria is certified CarbonNeutral® for its business travel, premises and data centres
“The Science Based Targets initiative’s new approval of our targets for reducing our GHG emissions is another powerful external validation of our approach to environmental sustainability. We will continue to drive our strategy and build on our support for the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change” says Vincent Paris, Sopra Steria Group’s CEO.
Mark Maslin, Professor of Climatology, UCL and independent advisor to Corporate Responsibility Board at Sopra Steria remarked that, “Forward thinking companies such as Sopra Steria are taking action on climate change now. They are reducing their emissions and supporting the move to a zero-carbon economy. They are also engaging their stakeholders, building resilience in their supply chains, and delivering low-carbon solutions and services to their clients.”