Executive Summary
At the Scottish National Investment Bank, we’re committed to supporting Scotland’s target of Just Transition to net zero by 2045. We’re working hard to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our business, as well as showing leadership by supporting the organisations we invest in to manage and reduce their own emissions.
A key focus of this plan is reducing GHG emissions across our business functions – our operational emissions. Over the coming years, we’ll continue to develop our approach to managing operational emissions as our business and processes mature and this plan establishes an initial baseline.
Operational emissions
Our operational emissions are based on data collated for the financial year 2022/23 (FY22/23) and equalled 58.66 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) and form our carbon footprint baseline. This includes future estate changes, electricity, gas, business and commuter travel, water, waste, and hotels.
We aim to reduce our operational emissions by a minimum of 5% by the end of financial year FY28/29 against the baseline. This target is measured, yet ambitious, as we acknowledge that our emissions profile is likely to increase as we continue to grow.
Investee emissions
The businesses we invest in – our investees – are the largest source of emissions linked to our bank. The complexity of carbon management, linked to the nature of these emission sources means that developing a robust baseline of the portfolio is difficult, particularly as investees may not have established appropriate processes to record. This position will vary continuously as our portfolio
At the Scottish National Investment Bank, we’re committed to supporting Scotland’s target of Just Transition to net zero by 2045. We’re working hard to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our business, as well as showing leadership by supporting the organisations we invest in to manage and reduce their own emissions.
changes and investee companies grow. This Carbon Management Plan (CMP) is our first step in measuring and quantifying investee emissions, allowing us to record current levels and establish what emissions can be attributed to us, based on our level of investment.
We’ll work closely with investees to help them take action to manage, measure and ultimately reduce their emissions. We’ll continue to report on investee emissions through our usual channels, including Impact Reports and, moving forward, using the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework.
Management of the CMP
We all have a part to play in our net zero journey. Day-to-day management of this plan lies with our Associate Director of Climate Impact, supported by the Chief Executive Officer. We’re establishing a Climate Action Network (CAN) to engage our team and promote and monitor our work.
As our portfolio fluctuates, we’ll review this plan annually to make sure it’s fit for purpose to deliver focussed operational carbon savings, and to support our portfolio companies. The CMP will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that it remains up to date, in line with both our TCFD aspirations and public bodies climate change duties reporting.
