Carbon Reduction Policy

Executive Summary

ICE Creates Ltd (ICE) is committed to achieving Net Zero Emissions by 2050.

We are aware that reducing our Greenhouse Gas Emissions represents significant benefits for us, our customers, suppliers, and the wider community.

Our Carbon Reduction Plan covers the strategies for ICE’ ongoing commitment to the management and reduction of our business-related carbon emissions.

The plan will cover ICE’ baseline year information, setting clear targets for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions over key timeframes and listing our planned projects to achieve carbon net zero by 2050.

Most of our achievements will be achieved through behavioural change, where necessary ICE will commit to funding projects to ensure the right outcome.

The below shows the journey we are taking:

1. Team training and behaviour change projects have been identified that will work to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

1. Meeting the reporting requirements

This Carbon Reduction Plan is completed in compliance with PPN06/21 as published by the Cabinet Office in June 2021.  This document will be reviewed and updated annually in line with the ICE Annual Report and Accounts. It will reflect any changes in organisational structure and take account of the efforts made to reduce our emissions over time to achieve net zero by 2050.

2.1 Our low carbon vision

As an organisation, ICE is committed to integrating sustainable development into everyday practice by minimising environmental impact wherever possible.

During the process of developing this Carbon Reduction Plan, several key areas have been selected that will allow us to demonstrate reductions in the carbon emissions generated by our activities.

2. Approaches and Initiatives

Due to the unique nature of our business, we have detailed below the methodology used for our report.

1. Carbon footprint methodology

In accordance with the GHG protocol’s corporate standard, the reported emissions should be reported against an operation boundary using one of three types of reporting methodology:

1. Equity share
2. Financial control
3. Operational control

1. Equity share:

This is how an organisation accounts for GHG emissions from operations according to its share of equity in the operation. This model may be helpful where emissions are recorded centrally across a range of entities, for example recorded UK wide by the parent company rather than at the trading entity level.

2. Financial Control:

The organisation reports on all sources of carbon emissions over which it has financial control. The organisation is deemed to have financial control over a service if it can direct the financial and operating policies of the service with a view to financially managing its activities, for example:

1. Setting budgets
2. Managing expenditure
3. Obtaining an ‘income’, such as in invoiced client work.

1. Operational control:

The organisation reports on all sources of carbon emissions over which it has operational control. The organisation is deemed to have operational control over a service if it has full authority to introduce and implement its operating policies.

3.5 Baseline year: 2021/2022

Scope 1

Company Facilities: we are tenants in buildings managed by private landlords.

Company vehicles: we do not have any company vehicles, so there are no emissions from this category included in our emissions data.

Scope 2

Purchased electricity, heating, and cooling for own use: we don’t purchase any of the energy needed for our buildings where we rent specific rooms, as they are all leased and are covered by the landlord.

Scope 3

Category 5 waste generated in operations

We do not have specific data on the waste generated as an organisation as this is managed through the lease arrangements as part of the building operations, but we do generate waste through employee printing along with reports, banners, and other materials. Waste includes plastic non-recyclable cups and can even include lunch-time related rubbish. We plan to address these areas through behaviour changes in the Strategies for Carbon Reduction.

Category 6 business travel

Business travel is measured and reported in the organisation’s Annual Report and Accounts annually. It is calculated using the values matrix supplied by DEFRA and is detailed below.

CO2 Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: official business travel expenditure on official business travel.

Type of travel                        Tonnes CO2e

Official travel: Road               XXX

Official travel: Rail                 XXX

Official travel: Air                  XXX

Total GHG emissions             XXX

Category 7 employee commuting

For the base year of 2021/2022, we do not have any firm data on how employees were travelling into their offices. To calculate as estimated figure for the financial year 2021/2022, we have taken the number of employees, their working pattern such as part time, full time, working from home full time during Covid or hybrid working due to Covid, and taken account annual leave and bank holidays.

For employees, there are 255 working days per year which reduces to an average of 226 working days per full time employee when accounting for annual leave and Bank Holidays. We calculated this figure for the average UK commute of a return trip being 16.8 miles. The average UK car emissions are approximately 196.94 grams per mile. This brings in a total estimated figure of 578.791 tCO₂e.

It is accepted that this does not include travel to offices by train, tube, bus or other forms of transport. Detailed below in the section ‘Strategies for Carbon Reduction’ are plans for how we can monitor commuting emissions and report an accurate figure in future years.

Baseline year emissions: FY 2021/2022

Emissions                                      Total (tCO2e)

Scope 1                                          5

Scope 2                                          51

Scope 3 (Included sources)              162

Total emissions                                218

3.6 Current Year: FY 2022/2023

Additional details about the baseline emissions calculations

For 2020/21, the global Covid-19 pandemic meant that almost all our staff worked from home for the entire financial year. The next reporting year of 2021/22 will also show a slight change, but we believe that 2022/23 data will be more accurate in how our emissions reduction journey will continue.

For the reporting year FY 2020/21 Scopes 1, 2 and 3 will be the same as the baseline year reporting.

Additional information is for Category 6 and 7 of Scope 3 as detailed below to cover business changes brought on from the pandemic.

Category 6 business travel

Business travel is tracked and reported in the annual report and accounts each year. It is calculated using the values matrix supplied by DEFRA and detailed below.  The current year reporting was during the global pandemic and the lockdowns required for the safety of citizens and staff. We recognise that this year’s footprint is an anomaly and does not represent standard business as usual activity.

CO2 Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: official business travel expenditure on official business travel:

Type of travel                         Tonnes CO2e

Official travel: Road               0

Official travel: Rail                 0

Official travel: Air                  0

Total GHG emissions             0

Category 7 employee commuting

For the current reporting year of 2020/21, we have no firm data on how employees were travelling into their office. With the onset of lockdown from March 2020 and the reduced return to the offices, calculating the employee commute figures is nearly impossible.

We had a few members of staff that did need to work from the office in the last quarter of FY 20/21, but it is impossible to state clearly how many did go to any of the offices and which offices were in fact open as some offices were going through refits and redesign. It has been estimated that only 10 employees did visit an office, so for this section on the report we have calculated 10 employees for 20 days each in total for the year.

We then calculated this figure with the average UK commute of a return trip 16.8 miles and the average UK car emissions of 196.94 grams per mile to bring in a total estimated figure of 0.661 tCO₂e, this figure is unnaturally lower than the base year due to the unique working environment caused by the pandemic lockdown.

Emissions                                Total (tCO2e)

Scope 1                                   5

Scope 2                                   51

Scope 3 (included sources)     162

Total emissions                       218

4. Strategies for carbon reduction

The carbon reduction opportunities in this plan, once fully implemented, will reduce ICE’ GHG emissions each year in line to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The areas for concentrated reduction strategies are as follows:

4.1 Business travel

Evaluated and, where possible, adopt means of reducing business travel, including continued use of video conferencing, to achieve sustainable long-term reduction of emissions that will be reported annually.

4.2 Employee commuting

We will continue to maintain Smarter Working culture for all employees to reduce the amount of business travel and commuting for our colleagues, helping to reduce our CO2 emissions.

4.3 Communication

We will work with key partners and other stakeholders to achieve a better understanding of our emission contributions in the energy usage and waste emission categories. Even with these categories being out of our direct control, we will apply pressure to the contracting authorities to push towards emission reductions, including the GPA who deal directly with out building landlords.

4.4 Employee learning and behaviour change

A program will be created over the next 12 months to raise the environmental awareness for all ICE employees, contractors, and interns.

Working with all employees, we will encourage better energy use and reduced waste. During the pandemic for example, while most employees were working from home, it highlighted how printing is not as essential as previously thought to our business operations as part of our daily work lives, and we will aim to maintain this as a goal for a more paperless office.

Since April 2020, the ICE events team has taken considerable steps to reduce the amount of paper-based marketing literature used at both internal and external events. This includes the creation of an app-based system, which uses downloadable content which is shared with the customer using PDFs, avoiding the requirement to produce, print and transport 1000's of leaflets to an event.

4.5 Leadership

The Executive Board of ICE has given, and will continue to give, its full support to this carbon reduction programme and the team required to achieve ICE' Net Zero ambitions.

The Executive Board will lead by example, by modelling best practice behaviours in carbon reduction wherever possible, by helping to push for and then implementing changes, along with arranging for specific sub-project funding when needed.

4.6 Declaration and sign off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standards for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).

This policy has been approved & authorised by: