Urgent climate action is needed to combat rising temperatures and sea levels, extreme weather events, and air pollution. Recently, VHB submitted its Letter of Intent to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), committing to set near- and long-term companywide emission reductions in line with climate science. The SBTi is a global body helping businesses set reduction targets in alignment with the latest climate science. A collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the initiative is focused on accelerating companies across the world to reduce emissions by half before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.
In 2022, VHB established its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory management plan and developed the company’s first comprehensive GHG inventory. Last year, VHB developed a roadmap for meeting a net-zero emissions target. The company is exploring options to reduce emissions such as procuring renewable energy for VHB offices, examining alternate options for fleet vehicles, continuing to reduce office waste, developing a Sustainable Leasing Scorecard to support sustainable leasing decisions, and promoting lower carbon commuting options.
“VHB is taking vital steps to help deliver a net-zero economy,” said Andrew White, Corporate Sustainability Director. “By joining the SBTi, we are committing to aligning our climate action with the latest science. Science-based net-zero means that VHB will commit to reducing emissions as rapidly as possible throughout our value chain.”
In the coming months, VHB will submit documentation pertaining to our GHG emissions: our inventory management plan, emissions data, our inventory overview, and our proposed targets. SBTi will then review our information to confirm that it aligns with science-based criteria before approving our target for validation. This means committing to a short-term target that reduces our operational emissions by at least 4.2 percent each year over the next five to 10 years, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero—defined as reducing at least 90 percent of all emissions across our value chain—prior to our long-term target year, which we expect to be 2040.
“At VHB, sustainability is woven into everything we do,” said Mike Carragher, President & CEO. “As a Generational Company founded on the principle of stewardship, sustainability has always been an integral part of who we are and what we do, from our culture to our operations to our project delivery. We are excited to be a part of the SBTi’s global movement for ambitious corporate decarbonization and in doing our part to help shape a net-zero future.”
Learn more about sustainability at VHB or contact Andrew White for additional information.