Environmental Performance
In 2024, EcoOnline's location-based greenhouse gas emissions totalled 5,761 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Of these, 9% were Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which come from our direct operations and the remaining 91% were Scope 3, or indirect, emissions. The Scope 3 emissions primarily arose from purchased goods and services and business travel, together accounting for 88% of overall Scope 3 emissions.
At EcoOnline, we recognise the increasing expectations from our customers, employees and investors to critically assess and actively reduce our emissions footprint. Committed to transparency and accountability, we employ a methodology that adheres to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, the gold standard for corporate GHG accounting and reporting. This protocol categorises emissions into three sources—known as "Scopes"—which help us define and manage our operational boundaries effectively.
Scopes
Defining the three emission sources
Scope 1
tCO2e
Scope 1 direct emissions arise from fuel use and process emissions that occur directly on our sites. In 2024, Scope 1 emissions arose from two sources: the use of natural gas and burning oil for premises heating, and loss of refrigerant gas from cooling systems.
Scope 2
tCO2e
Scope 2 (location based) indirect emissions are associated with the production of electricity, district heating and cooling purchased for use at our corporate locations. Scope 2 emissions differ from Scope 1 in that the emissions occur off-site (i.e. at the power station), but the energy is consumed in owned/operated facilities.
Scope 3
tCO2e
Scope 3 (other indirect emissions) account for activities downstream or upstream from our core business. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol categorises Scope 3 emissions into 15 separate categories, of which we currently include the following in our 2024 assessment:
Category 1: Purchased goods and services
Category 3: Fuel and energy related emissions
Category 4: Upstream transportation and distribution
Category 5: Waste
Category 6: Business travel
Category 7: Employee commuting
ISO Certification
We maintained the ISO 14001 and 45001 certifications for our Stratford office in 2024, reflecting an effective Environmental Management System. For 2025, we will review the potential to extend certifications to other parts of our organisation, where appropriate, and continue to comply with all local legislation for environmental protection.
Organisational Boundaries
EcoOnline determines its GHG inventory boundaries based on the financial control approach, which includes leased facilities and locations where direct operational control is exercised. This boundary aligns with our management of operations, enabling us to influence decisions impacting GHG emissions. Newly acquired facilities are also included within the boundary during our period of control. This approach ensures a comprehensive assessment of our GHG emissions for effective tracking and mitigation.
GHG Emissions Profile
This report primarily focuses on Scope 3 emissions, with an analysis of the largest emission category - Purchased Goods and Services (PG&S). Understanding the emissions impact of these transactions is crucial for effective reduction strategies.
As discussed above, Scope 1 and 2 emissions arise from energy consumed in owned facilities as well as fugitive emissions from refrigerants. Energy consumption data (from invoices) was collected where possible, with floor area and benchmark intensity profiles used where actual data was not available. As refrigerant loss data was unavailable, office floor area was used to estimate this, along with benchmark intensity data. This information was collected from our 20 global facilities in operation during 2024.
As per the GHG Protocol guidelines, we have also calculated our Scope 2 market-based emissions, these were 433 tCO2e in 2024.
Analysis of EcoOnline's Scope 3 Emissions
This section provides a more detailed analysis of our Scope 3 emissions, focusing on the largest emission category. This will help us gain deeper insights to shape the decarbonisation strategies we will target in our refreshed 2030 Sustainability Plan.
To calculate the Scope 3 emissions, a combination of actual and estimated data was used. Actual data was obtained from internal accounting systems, such as the purchase ledger and travel booking expenses; estimated data used headcount and floor area metrics, combined with relevant publicly available intensity benchmarks.
Our analysis confirmed that Purchased goods and services (PG&S) make up our largest emissions category. Aligning with expectations for a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company like EcoOnline, a major portion of our PG&S spend is allocated to services. Going forward, understanding the emissions impact of these service-based transactions is crucial for implementing effective strategies to reduce our carbon footprint.
To calculate the emissions associated with this category, we utilised spend data obtained from the purchase ledger and mapped this information against the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) categories (v1.3 by NAICS-6). The EEIO emission factor set is a comprehensive database that provides emissions data for various industrial processes and activities. The mapping exercise was carried out using transaction description, account name and supplier information which enabled us to translate the spend amounts into emissions estimates for each PG&S category.
EcoOnline's absolute greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 4.6% in 2024, but emissions per FTE increased by 14%, from 6.8 to 7.88 tCO2e/FTE due to a reduction in staff numbers during the year.
Business travel is essential, but also a major carbon contributor, resulting in 1,144 tCO2e in 2024, up from 1,035 tCO2e in 2023. Business travel emissions are currently estimated using spend data which makes trend analysis difficult; the collection of distance based spend data going forward will enable us to investigate travel trends and make policy decisions to target reductions in this area.
We remain committed to minimising our environmental impact. Our 2025 focus will be on optimising the supply chain for sustainable vendors, prioritising reductions in the high impact Purchased Goods & Services category.
In analysing our emissions profile, the following key observations highlight the significance of our PG&S category:
Data processing and hosting, along with computer equipment and software, emerge as the largest emissions category within PG&S, accounting for 33% of category emissions.
This is primarily due to the substantial spend associated with this category and the energy-intensive nature of the process, resulting in a high emissions factor.
Advertising, consulting and administrative support represents the second-largest emissions category within PG&S at 28%.
This underscores the importance of addressing emissions associated with contracted services in our sustainability efforts.