Our planet

The year ending 31 March 2024 was the fourth since we committed to becoming a net zero organisation. At year end, our global carbon footprint was 115,338tCO₂e_, a 33 per cent decrease against our baseline year. We have achieved our initial science-based targets to reduce absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 30 per cent by 31 March 2025 a year early. In the same period, Arup grew as a business, and our absolute emission reduction equated to 45 per cent per member.

To date, our largest emission reductions have been in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which were 86 per cent lower than our baseline year, at 1,583tCO₂e, as of 31 March 2024. We have achieved this by improving the energy efficiency of our office portfolio, increasing our purchase of green electricity and, in some cases, installing roof top solar photovoltaics.

The majority of our emissions – 113,755tCO₂e as of 31 March 2024 – are attributed to Scope 3, and these have decreased 29.5 per cent compared to our baseline year. We are on track to reduce our absolute Scope 3 emissions of 30 per cent by FY 2024/25, having reduced them by 29.5 per cent from the FY 2018/19 baseline. Purchased goods and services are the most significant element of our Scope 3 total, representing approximately 62 per cent of our total emissions. Looking ahead, progress in Scope 3 emission reduction is our priority and we are working actively with key suppliers. We have established a global procurement function, which will be responsible for all aspects of supply chain management.

We are committed to achieving science-based emissions reductions for our operations, and our near-term targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.