Wednesday 2 September 2020

Boston Consulting Group aims for net zero emissions by 2030

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has made a commitment to invest $400 million (£299m) to significantly reduce its carbon footprint and achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

The global consultancy giant aims to reduce direct energy and electricity emissions against its baseline year of 2018 by 90% per full time-equivalent employee (FTE) by 2025.

It also intends to reduce its climate impact from business travel, which represents more than 80% of its total footprint, by at least 30% per FTE by 2025, with further improvements expected to follow.

In addition, BCG will remove carbon from the atmosphere by scaling investments in carbon removal projects and technologies.

It has committed to removing carbon with the “most effective nature-based and engineered solutions” at an expected cost of $35 (£26) per tonne in 2025, rising to $80 (£60) per tonne in 2030.

This marks a significant increase against the current voluntary carbon offset market average of $3 (£2.2) to $6 (£4.5) per tonne.

Last year, BCG transitioned to purchasing 100% renewable electricity and aims to continue to pursue efforts to increase energy efficiency across its operations.

BCG CEO Rich Lesser said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for global efforts to develop solutions to the world’s biggest problems.

“True to our values and purpose, we have a responsibility to show leadership in this new reality. The greatest impact BCG can have is to help our clients tackle their climate challenges and accelerate their transition to a lower carbon economy. But to stand confidently and proudly behind our work, we also have to change the way we ourselves operate and invest substantially. Like every company, we must step up.”