Case study
Humber Zero project
Climate change
The science is clear, it’s time to zero in on climate action.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 for the purpose of providing governments with scientific information in the development of climate policies, states human induced climate change is a real and present threat to human wellbeing and the health of our planet.
Recognising the challenge
As the world continues to wake up to the scale of human impact on our planet, the challenge of a changing climate and a growing population has made the focus on climate action an imperative to the present-day business agenda.
Delivering our contribution
Cutting carbon emissions, as the leading cause of climate change, is pivotal to slowing the warming of our planet. Doing our part to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Wood is committed to a net-zero future by 2050 and delivering our contribution to a low carbon future. Embedded in our strategy, we seek to deliver decarbonisation through reducing our own footprint and helping our clients meet their own sustainability goals.
Wood will reduce our global scope 1 & 2 emissions by 40% by 2030, on our journey to net zero.
Read more on how climate action impacts Wood and our actions to address:
Climate change represents both a risk and an opportunity for Wood connected to our mission of unlocking solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges. Embedded in our strategy, our action to tackle climate change and enable the energy transition to a more resilient, low carbon future means we are fully invested in creating solutions that ensure we remain a sustainable business in the energy and built environment.
The World Health Organization calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. As individuals and as Wood, climate change represents the greatest challenge to humankind and the survival of species that share our planet; the world is witnessing rising sea levels, extreme weather events, increased heat, drought and infectious outbreaks. No one is immune to the effects of a changing climate. The intrinsic link between climate change and human rights, particularly for those more vulnerable in society, impacts the most basic rights to life like health, food and standards of living. Wood’s efforts on climate action seek to address that imbalance through the solutions we provide to help society and industry anticipate, prepare for and respond to climate events.
Our commitment to the environment is set out in our HSSE&S Policy, supported by our global HSSES management system and Environmental Standards.
Wood’s mandatory environmental standards ensure consistent delivery of environmental management across all our operations, complimented by our environment standards self-assessment tool, training material and periodic assurance on our activities.
Defining our approach on the collection, collation, and reporting of carbon emissions globally, Wood’s Carbon Reporting and Accounting Standard provides a singular process for our business to measure our carbon footprint in alignment with GHG Protocol.
In addition to meeting our legal requirements, Wood voluntarily participates in the globally recognised CDP Climate Change annual disclosure. CDP is a non-profit organisation recognised as the gold standard in environmental reporting. It operates the world’s largest voluntary disclosure system to help companies and cities disclose their environmental impact. Wood has taken part in the CDP Climate Change questionnaire since 2011, completing our first combined submission as Wood in 2018.
Read more on CDP Climate Change and to download our latest submission, visit our Data and Reporting page.
Related content:
- HSSE&S Policy
- Carbon reporting and accounting standard
- CDP climate change
- Data and reporting
- Policies and documents
Committed to climate action
Achieving our strategy to globally align carbon reporting systems and processes in 2019, we announced in 2020 our first milestone target to reduce Wood’s scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 on our pledge to net-zero. Set as a science-based target, aligned to the global ambition to limit temperature rise to well-below 2 degrees, Wood is working towards future validation of this target through the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
Committed to supporting our clients and industry, Wood will double client support aligned to the energy transition and more sustainable infrastructure by 2030 and, seek to consistently rank in the Top Quartile ESG investment ratings within our peer group by 2025.
Our role in achieving a net-zero world extends beyond simply reducing our own carbon footprint. Increasing our impact on carbon reduction through the services we provide and the solutions we deliver to our clients is part of Wood’s strategic action to reduce global emissions. We are working to increase the pace of the energy transition through diversifying the world’s energy portfolio through wind, solar, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and waste to energy, as well as solutions to help oil, gas and chemical clients achieve their own decarbonisation targets. Our focus also includes work in the built environment, designing, planning and delivering sustainable and less carbon intensive infrastructure to cities as they continue to grow.
Wood’s goal to double client support aligned to the energy transition and more sustainable infrastructure by 2030 and, our focus to consistently rank in the Top Quartile ESG investment ratings within our peer group by 2025, demonstrate the strategic importance we place on supporting our client’s decarbonisation goals and ensuring we continue to lead best practice in benchmarking our performance.
Reducing our own emissions
Set across a decade of change for Wood, our 2030 milestone goal to reduce our carbon scope 1&2 emissions by 40% by 2030, will be achieved without the use of offsets, focusing on behavioural changes and absolute reductions in the short-term.
To deliver our 2030 objective, we need a strategy to guide our journey. This led to the establishment of the Climate Change Working Group, made up of key stakeholders from our business units and functions, and those identified as key to the delivery of our goal.
The primary objectives of the group are to:
- Support and enhance awareness and accountability for carbon management
- Identify group wide opportunities, objectives and actions
- Support tactical planning for carbon reduction throughout operations
- Establish appropriate internal and external communications plans
- Undertake periodic monitoring and assurance of the effectiveness of the strategy
- Support and advise the ELT/Board on the effectiveness of the measures adopted to date
- Intelligence gathering from internal/external stakeholders on carbon reduction
The Climate Change Focus Team are responsible for development of the strategic action plan, which details enterprise-wide actions to achieving our goal. The elements of the action plan will embed carbon efficiency in fundamental policies such as real estate policies, procurement of energy and travel policies, as well as initiating consistent decision making on climate change issues.
Evolving our ambition
Following globally recognised standards ensures we remain aligned to the latest science on climate change. In late 2021, SBTi released the first science-based framework for companies to set net-zero targets known as the Net-Zero Standard. The standard clarifies the key role of decarbonization in corporate net-zero strategies and gives Wood the direction needed to increase our commitment and begin conversations in 2022 with our leadership on extending our ambition across all 3 emissions scopes.
To view our most recent environmental performance and progress towards our goals, please refer to our ESG data sheet and dedicated Sustainability Goals page.
Related content:
