Since 2019, VINCI Energies has reduced its carbon footprint by 22% per employee, proving its efforts are paying off, says Jasmin Moroney, Head of SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment & Quality) at VINCI Energies UK & RoI.
An in-depth analysis of its carbon footprint revealed that 76% stemmed from vehicle fuel, as it has many project engineers traveling regularly to serve clients, while 23% accounted for heating and powering our sites and offices.
Armed with this knowledge, it identified the main steps we could take to reduce our impact and calculated the contribution each one would make toward our overall targets. Providing we could cut emissions by 5% a year, we would remain on track.
Real progress
As the company returned to normal working practices in 2021, naturally our reported carbon footprint increased. However, it still achieved a 22% reduction per employee versus 2019.
90% of its gas and electricity is now on a green tariff, which means suppliers must feed the same amount of energy we use back into the grid from renewable sources. This has dramatically reduced indirect carbon emissions and its recent acquisitions will also switch over to green tariffs as soon as practicable.
Growing uptake of EVs
At the same time, it has been transitioning our company car and commercial van fleets over to electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce our direct emissions from diesel fuel. Admittedly, we have not moved as fast as we would have liked to due EV supply issues, but we are heading in the right direction. EV charging points have also been installed at every Business Unit, where employees can charge their cars for free.
The company is currently developing an overarching sustainability plan in line with the VINCI Group environment plan that encompasses not just emissions, but also circular economy and biodiversity. This plan will include targets and timelines and allocate responsibilities to support our Business Units to see it through.
It will also include an Environmental Indicator as part of monthly reports.
