According to The World Counts, 43.1 billion tonnes of CO2 from human activity was emitted into the atmosphere in 2019, a record high. The IEA reported in March of this year, that global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by 6% in 2021 to 36.3 billion tonnes, also an all-time high. As the world celebrated World Environment Day on the 5th of June 2022, our internal Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) team look to introduce new ESG and Sustainability initiatives.

What is World Environment Day?

Held every year on the 5th June and led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day is celebrated by millions of people in more than 150 countries. First held in 1974, the event has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet. Each year, the program has provided a theme and forum for businesses, non-government organisations, communities, governments and celebrities to advocate environmental causes.

The 2022 World Environment Day campaign ‘Only One Earth’ addresses the triple crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. 

Why are the Lucion Group getting involved?

Our business purpose is to protect people and planet. World Environment Day is the perfect time to announce our new initiative, enabling us to build an Earth Action Number, which is a numeric goal related to climate change actions by a company or organiastion, and share our impact with the world. 

Last year we planted 500 trees in the Lowther Estate in the Lake District National Park as Lucion Services and Delta-Simons’ first joint ESG initiative. This year, we are looking at a project which not only supports our ESG strategy by addressing both carbon sequestration and increasing biodiversity but will also contribute toward the Lucion Group target to move beyond carbon net-zero.

What is the new carbon reduction initiative?

Seawilding, based at Loch Craignish, Argyll, is the UK's first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration project. The aim of the project is to restore lost biodiversity to help our seas recover from the prolonged impacts of human activities. Globally, seagrass is known to absorb significant quantities of blue carbon, responsible for 11% of the organic carbon buried in the oceans despite occupying just 0.1% of the seafloor. In some parts of the world it has been found to absorb carbon up to 35 times faster than rainforests. 

In terms of improving biodiversity, Seawilding’s surveys in Loch Craignish have shown that the diversity of macrofauna (tiny creatures that inhabit soft sediments) in seagrass beds is twice that of the surrounding bare sediment. Samples taken by their partners at the Scottish Association for Marine Science have shown that biodiversity within the sediment in the beds is many times greater - see fig 1.

Lucion Group will be sponsoring the Seawilding project by purchasing a square metre of seagrass for every new starter who has joined us since World Environment Day 2021, as well as a smaller amount for every other employee across the Group who already has a tree planted from our previous initative. In total, we will be funding the planting of 280m2 of seagrass on behalf of our community. As well as helping to sequester carbon and restore biodiversity, this pioneering project also brings our community many other ways to get involved, including opportunities for volunteering during the harvests. 

The bigger we get, the better we do. 

Lucion Group’s Internal ESG lead, Hazel Gillings, leads the company’s ESG activities and is keen for all of our team to get actively involved with our ESG and sustainability initiatives. We are continually aware that our business activities can have an impact on the natural environment. We are therefore committed to reducing our impact by continuing to utilise the expertise and support of Climate Impact Partners for our worldwide carbon offsetting projects, along with introducing various sustainable initiatives across the business in addition to our seawilding project. Such initiatives include:

• Lightfoot in-vehicle driver efficiency technology and rewards platform to our fleet of 197 vans which monitors and feedback to the driver their driving style to reduce harsh acceleration, improve fuel economy and overall driving standards. 
• Carbon Offsetting Shell fuel cards where every litre of fuel purchased is carbon offset through Shell’s global portfolio of nature-based projects.
• Cycle to Work scheme as well as encouraging staff to use public transport via strategically located office facilities. 
• Increased Sustainable Car Allowance levels for those eligible and owners of a hybrid or electric vehicle. 
• ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) Salary Sacrifice Scheme. 
• Where possible, our laboratory and office buildings are equipped with environmentally friendly air source heat pumps and solar photovoltaic cells powered through clean energy sources.
• Retrofitted efficient LED lighting in our offices.

As a result of these initiatives and many more in the pipeline, the company is driving efficiency and stopping tonnes of CO2 from entering the earth’s atmosphere

We understand our role and responsibility to lead by example. As such, we are committed to playing our part to not only reduce our direct carbon emissions but to use our skills and expertise to support others to do the same. To reduce our impact, we are continuing to invest in our initiatives. This year we plan to continue to:

• Continue the transition towards a hybrid/fully electric vehicle fleet.
• Source 100% renewable energy for all offices where we have energy bill responsibility.
• Streamline our business functions to reduce resource consumption and travel.
• Commit to a Science-Based Target to reduce our emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
• Work towards becoming a ‘Beyond Net-Zero’ Group of companies, eliminating our emissions where possible and offsetting our annual emissions by 150% to ensure we have a net positive impact on the environment.

We are determined to see a positive change in the landscape of our business. 2022 will see us invest in our 'beyond carbon neutral' objectives. By December 2022, our initiatives will not only have offset our current carbon production, but we'll also continue to limit our carbon production where possible, and aim to offset not only what's leftover, but an additional 50% of the output. 

As a group of environmental companies, we are committed to embedding ESG in everything we do as a business. Led by the ESG principles, the combined Lucion Group is passionate about making a difference among clients, employees, investors, regulators and corporations, as we adapt to the ever-changing business environment impacted by the effects of climate change.