RS Group – RS Group marks halfway milestone showcasing progress toward 2030 sustainability goals in 2024/25 report

EMR Analysis

More information on RS Group plc: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Simon Pryce (Chief Executive Officer, RS Group plc): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on the Sustainability Strategy, the ESG Report 2024/2025 and the 2030 ESG Action Plan by RS Group: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Andrea Barrett (Chief Sustainability Officer, RS Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

 

 

More information on The Washing Machine Project (TWMP): https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ + The Washing Machine Project is a grassroots social enterprise based in the U.K. aiming to alleviate the burden of handwashing clothes and empower women by providing remote, low income and displaced communities with an accessible, off-grid washing solution. The Divya Washing Machine.

More information on Nav Sawnhey (Founder, The Washing Machine Project (TWMP)): https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/theteam  + https://www.linkedin.com/in/navsawhney/ 

 

 

More information on EcoVadis: https://ecovadis.com + The World’s Most Trusted Business Sustainability Ratings.

Since its founding in 2007, EcoVadis has grown to become the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, creating a global network of more than 150,000+ rated companies.

Our team is composed of over 1900 highly-talented professionals from 80 nationalities.

The EcoVadis sustainability assessment methodology is at the heart of our Ratings and Scorecards and is an evaluation of how well a company has integrated the principles of Sustainability/CSR into their business and management system.

The EcoVadis sustainability assessment methodology is at the heart of our Ratings and Scorecards and is an evaluation of how well a company has integrated the principles of Sustainability/CSR into their business and management system.

Our methodology is built on international sustainability standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000, covering 250+ spend categories and 185+ countries. The Sustainability Scorecard illustrates performance across 21 indicators in four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement.

EcoVadis medals are awarded to the top 35% of companies assessed by EcoVadis:

Medals are awarded based on the percentile rank of a company which is calculated at the time of scorecard publication. It compares a company’s performance with all rated companies in our database over the previous 12 months. The percentile rank is calculated across all companies in all industries, not per industry.

• Platinum – Top 1% (99+ percentile)
• Gold – Top 5% (95+ percentile)
• Silver – Top 15% (85+ percentile)
• Bronze – Top 35% (65+ percentile)

To be eligible for a medal, a company must achieve a minimum score of 30 in each of the four themes:

• Environment
• Ethics
• Labor & Human Rights
• Sustainable Procurement

More information on Pierre-François Thaler (Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer, EcoVadis): https://ecovadis.com/leadership/ + https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfthaler/ 

More information on Frédéric Trinel (Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer, EcoVadis): https://ecovadis.com/leadership/ 

 

 

More information on The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ + The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.

The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting, offers resources and guidance to reduce barriers to adoption, and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets.

• Defines and promotes best practices in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science.
• Provides target setting methods and guidance to companies to set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science.
• Includes a team of experts to provide companies with independent assessment and validation of targets.
• Serves as the lead partner of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, an urgent call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders that mobilizes companies to set net-zero science-based targets in line with a 1.5 degrees C future.

 

 

More information on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP): https://www.cdp.net/en + CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system for companies, capital markets, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

As the founder of environmental reporting, we believe in transparency and the power of data to drive change, with the richest and most comprehensive dataset on corporate and state action. Partnering with leaders in enterprise, capital, policy and science, we surface the information needed to enable Earth-positive decisions.  

Our disclosure system also integrates best-practice reporting standards and frameworks from the ISSB and TNFD in one questionnaire. 

Founded in 2000, CDP was the first organization to leverage investor pressure to influence corporate disclosure on environmental impact. Now with the world’s largest, most comprehensive dataset on environmental action, the insights that CDP holds empower investors, companies, cities, and national and regional governments to make Earth-positive decisions.

Our team is truly global, with regional offices and local partners spanning 50 locations. There are now companies, cities, states and regions from over 90 countries disclosing through CDP annually. 

More information on Paul Dickinson (Founder Chair, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) + Co-Founder, Transition Value Partners (TVP)): https://www.transition-value.com/about + https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-dickinson-0093a8/ 

More information on Sherry Madera (Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)): https://www.cdp.net/en/about/team + https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrymadera/ 

More information on “A-List” by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP): https://cdp.net/en/data/scores#corporate-a-list + CDP provides the leading scoring system for companies, cities, states and regions taking action on the environment. The best performing organizations are awarded a place on CDP’s annual A List, to celebrate their work on climate change, deforestation and/or water security. A CDP score is a snapshot of a company’s environmental disclosure and performance. 

In 2024, for climate and water, Asia had the most A List companies followed by Europe and the Americas. For forests, Europe had the most A List companies, followed by Asia and the Americas.

CDP A List companies outperformed market peers by an average of 6% in stock gains for the last decade, showing that transparency and ambition are rewarded by the market.

 

 

More information on TIME: https://time.com/ + TIME is a global media brand built on 100 years of unparalleled trust and authority, with an audience of more than 100 million people worldwide across our platforms. Created in 1923, TIME began as the first weekly news magazine: a digest of world events, for busy people to read. Today, TIME includes a website; a magazine; a social media footprint of over 51 million; TIME Studios, an award-winning film and television division; live events; Red Border, an award-winning in-house branded content studio; TIME CO2, a climate action platform; TIME Stamped, a recommendations and e-commerce platform created in partnership with Taboola; and TIME Sites, a customer-experience platform.

More information on Jessica Sibley (Chief Executive Officer, TIME): https://time.com/time-masthead/ + https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicasibley/ 

More information on TIME’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies of 2025 by TIME & Statista: https://time.com/collection/worlds-most-sustainable-companies-2025/ + To track how top global firms across industries are rising to the challenge, TIME and data firm Statista partnered to rank the world’s 500 most sustainable companies based on their public commitment to and progress toward sustainability targets during the calendar year of 2023 (the most recent year for which complete data are available).

 

 

More information on Net Zero by 2050 by the United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition + Put simply, net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance.

Currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C  – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

More than 140 countries, including the biggest polluters – China, the United States, India and the European Union – have set a net-zero target, covering about 88% of global emissions. More than 9,000 companies, over 1000 cities, more than 1000 educational institutions, and over 600 financial institutions have joined the Race to Zero, pledging to take rigorous, immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030.

More information on Net Zero by 2050 by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): https://sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero + The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the world’s only framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. It includes the guidance, criteria, and recommendations companies need to set science-based net-zero targets consistent with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

UN vs. SBTi: 

• UN targets nations, while SBTi focuses on companies. UN sets a broad goal, while SBTI provides a detailed framework for target setting.
• Both aim to achieve net zero emissions and limit warming to 1.5°C. The UN sets the overall direction, and SBTi helps businesses translate that goal into actionable plans.

Key components of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard:

1. Near-term targets: Rapid, deep cuts to direct and indirect value-chain emissions must be the overarching priority for companies. Companies must set near-term science-based targets to roughly halve emission before 2030. This is the most effective, scientifically-sound way of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
2. Long-term targets: Companies must set long-term science-based targets. Companies must cut all possible – usually more than 90% – of emissions before 2050.
3. Neutralize residual emissions: After a company has achieved its long-term target and cut emissions by more than 90%, it must use permanent carbon removal and storage to counterbalance the final 10% or more of residual emissions that cannot be eliminated. A company is only considered to have reached net-zero when it has achieved its long-term science-based target and neutralized any residual emissions.
4. Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM): Businesses should invest now in actions to reduce and remove emissions outside of their value chains in addition to near- and long-term science-based targets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EMR Additional Notes: 

• ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance):
  • Refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a business or company. Most socially responsible investors check companies out using ESG criteria to screen investments.
  • ESG metrics are not commonly part of mandatory financial reporting, though companies are increasingly making disclosures in their annual report or in a standalone sustainability report.
  • There is not a standardized approach to the calculation or presentation of different ESG metrics.
    • Environmental: Conservation of the natural world
      • Climate change and carbon emissions
      • Air and water pollution
      • Biodiversity
      • Deforestation
      • Energy efficiency
      • Waste management
      • Water scarcity
      • …
    • Social: Consideration of people & relationships
      • Customer satisfaction
      • Data protection and privacy
      • Gender and diversity
      • Employee engagement
      • Community relations
      • Human rights
      • Labor standards
      • …
    • Governance: Standards for running a company
      • Board composition
      • Audit committee structure
      • Bribery and corruption
      • Executive compensation
      • Lobbying
      • Political contributions
      • Whistleblower schemes
      • …
  • Criteria are of increasing interest to companies, their investors and other stakeholders. With growing concern about he ethical status of quoted companies, these standards are the central factors that measure the ethical impact and sustainability of investment in a company.
  • Consequently, ESG analysis considers how companies serve society and how this impacts their current and future performance.
• CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility):
  • Framework or business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.
  • The purpose of CSR is to give back to the community, take part in philanthropic causes, and provide positive social value. Businesses are increasingly turning to CSR to make a difference and build a positive brand around their company.
  • CSR tends to target opinion formers – politicians, pressure groups, media. Sustainability targets here the whole value chain – from suppliers to operations to partners to end-consumers.
• CSR vs. ESG:
  • CSR is a company’s framework of sustainability plans and responsible cultural influence, whereas ESG is the assessable outcome concerning a company’s overall sustainability performance.
  • The major difference between them is that CSR is a business model used by individual companies, while ESG is a criteria that investors use to assess a company and determine if they are worth investing in.

 

 

• Double Materiality Analysis:
  • A double materiality assessment is a process for prioritizing sustainability topics by considering both the impact a company has on the environment and society (impact materiality) and how sustainability issues affect the company’s financial performance (financial materiality). It’s a key step in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), helping companies identify which sustainability topics are most relevant to their business and stakeholders.

 

 

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
  • Primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and other biological materials, and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
• Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
  • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are the same. Scientists differentiate between biogenic carbon (that which is absorbed, stored and emitted by organic matter like soil, trees, plants and grasses) and non-biogenic carbon (that found in all other sources, most notably in fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas).
• Decarbonization:
  • Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources, achieving a lower output of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
• Carbon Footprint:
  • There is no universally agreed definition of what a carbon footprint is.
  • A carbon footprint is generally understood to be the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are directly or indirectly caused by an individual, organization, product, or service. These emissions are typically measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
  • In 2009, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) published a standard for calculating and reporting corporate carbon footprints. This standard is widely accepted by businesses and other organizations around the world. The GHG Protocol defines a carbon footprint as “the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, directly and indirectly, through its own operations and the value chain.”
• CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent):
  • CO2e means “carbon dioxide equivalent”. In layman’s terms, CO2e is a measurement of the total greenhouse gases emitted, expressed in terms of the equivalent measurement of carbon dioxide. On the other hand, CO2 only measures carbon emissions and does not account for any other greenhouse gases.
  • A carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2 equivalent, abbreviated as CO2-eq is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming potential (GWP), by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.
    • Carbon dioxide equivalents are commonly expressed as million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, abbreviated as MMTCDE.
    • The carbon dioxide equivalent for a gas is derived by multiplying the tonnes of the gas by the associated GWP: MMTCDE = (million metric tonnes of a gas) * (GWP of the gas).
    • For example, the GWP for methane is 25 and for nitrous oxide 298. This means that emissions of 1 million metric tonnes of methane and nitrous oxide respectively is equivalent to emissions of 25 and 298 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS):
  • CCS involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes. This carbon is then transported from where it was produced, via ship or in a pipeline, and stored deep underground in geological formations.
  • CCS projects typically target 90 percent efficiency, meaning that 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from the power plant will be captured and stored.
• Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): 
  • Carbon Dioxide Removal encompasses approaches and methods for removing CO2 from the atmosphere and then storing it permanently in underground geological formations, in biomass, oceanic reservoirs or long-lived products in order to achieve negative emissions.
• Direct Air Capture (DAC): 
  • Technologies extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location, unlike carbon capture which is generally carried out at the point of emissions, such as a steel plant.
  • Constraints like costs and energy requirements as well as the potential for pollution make DAC a less desirable option for CO2 reduction. Its larger land footprint when compared to other mitigation strategies like carbon capture and storage systems (CCS) also put it at a disadvantage.
• Carbon Credits or Carbon Offsets:
  • Permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. One credit permits the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
  • The carbon credit is half of a so-called cap-and-trade program. Companies that pollute are awarded credits that allow them to continue to pollute up to a certain limit, which is reduced periodically. Meanwhile, the company may sell any unneeded credits to another company that needs them. Private companies are thus doubly incentivized to reduce greenhouse emissions. First, they must spend money on extra credits if their emissions exceed the cap. Second, they can make money by reducing their emissions and selling their excess allowances.

 

• Global Warming: 
  • Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
• Global Warming Potential (GWP): 
  • The heat absorbed by any greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, as a multiple of the heat that would be absorbed by the same mass of carbon dioxide (CO2). GWP is 1 for CO2. For other gases it depends on the gas and the time frame.
  • Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e or CO2eq or CO2-e) is calculated from GWP. For any gas, it is the mass of CO2 which would warm the earth as much as the mass of that gas. Thus it provides a common scale for measuring the climate effects of different gases. It is calculated as GWP times mass of the other gas. For example, if a gas has GWP of 100, two tonnes of the gas have CO2e of 200 tonnes.
  • GWP was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases.
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG):
  • A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.
  • The main gases responsible for the greenhouse effect include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor (which all occur naturally), and fluorinated gases (which are synthetic).

• GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Scope 1, 2 and 3: https://ghgprotocol.org/ + The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a corporate-level GHG emissions inventory. Scope 1 and 2 are mandatory to report, whereas scope 3 is voluntary and the hardest to monitor.
  • Scope 1: Direct emissions:
    • Direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources. In other words, emissions are released into the atmosphere as a direct result of a set of activities, at a firm level. It is divided into four categories:
      • Stationary combustion (e.g fuels, heating sources). All fuels that produce GHG emissions must be included in scope 1.
      • Mobile combustion is all vehicles owned or controlled by a firm, burning fuel (e.g. cars, vans, trucks). The increasing use of “electric” vehicles (EVs), means that some of the organisation fleets could fall into Scope 2 emissions.
      • Fugitive emissions are leaks from greenhouse gases (e.g. refrigeration, air conditioning units). It is important to note that refrigerant gases are a thousand times more dangerous than CO2 emissions. Companies are encouraged to report these emissions.
      • Process emissions are released during industrial processes, and on-site manufacturing (e.g. production of CO2 during cement manufacturing, factory fumes, chemicals).
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions – owned:
    • Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, from a utility provider. In other words, all GHG emissions released in the atmosphere, from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling. For most organisations, electricity will be the unique source of scope 2 emissions. Simply stated, the energy consumed falls into two scopes: Scope 2 covers the electricity consumed by the end-user. Scope 3 covers the energy used by the utilities during transmission and distribution (T&D losses).
  • Scope 3: Indirect emissions – not owned:
    • Indirect emissions – not included in scope 2 – that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions. In other words, emissions are linked to the company’s operations. According to GHG protocol, scope 3 emissions are separated into 15 categories.

 

 

• Supply Chain: 
  • Network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product. A supply chain encompasses everything from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer through to its eventual delivery to the end user.
  • At the most fundamental level, supply chain management (SCM) is management of the flow of goods, data, and finances related to a product or service, from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery of the product at its final destination.