Stagecoach has been awarded an ‘A-‘ rating from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global non-profit organisation which manages the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Stagecoach’s A- is an improvement on its score of a ‘B’ last year, and the rating places it in the ‘Leadership’ band for CDP Climate Change disclosure reporting, and is above the average for the road transport sector in general, which was classed as ‘D’.
An ‘A-‘ score is given by CDP to those organisations who are implementing best practice on climate issues. Investment being made by Stagecoach as part of its sustainability strategy, including in cleaner technologies, is planned to cut the company’s annual emissions by 351,945 tCO2e by 2035, equivalent to the total annual pre-pandemic emissions produced by around 66,000 UK households.
The CDP assessment builds on recent recognition for Stagecoach’s transparency in financial reporting. As a large company owned by private equity, Stagecoach is covered by the Walker Guidelines for transparency in reporting; a recent assessment by the Private Equity Reporting Group praised Stagecoach for providing an excellent level of disclosure, giving it the only excellent rating out of 25 portfolio companies assessed.
Sharon Vye-Parminter, Health, Safety and Environment Director for Stagecoach, said: “We’re thrilled to be awarded an ‘A-‘ rating by the Carbon Disclosure Project this year. It recognises a lot of hard work and investment across our business to improve our environmental performance. This year we have broadened the scope of our work to include water security, achieving a ‘C,’ which is in line with the Road Transport, European and Global averages. We are committed to make further progress in becoming more efficient in our resource use.
“Our progress in delivering our ambitious sustainability strategy will help to ensure that public transport continues to play a vital role in helping the country to achieve its environmental objectives.”
Alongside a continuing investment in new zero-emission fleets Stagecoach plans to adopt other green technologies over the next 15 years, with key environmental targets including continuing to purchase only 100% renewable energy for its buildings and fleet; aligning energy management systems with the international standard ISO50001 by 2027; 95% of waste diverted from landfill by 2026 and 98% by 2031; reducing resource use by further digitalising systems; and progressing a climate adaptation programme to risk assess and protect facilities.
