The impacts of climate change, water stress, waste pollution and biodiversity loss are being felt across the world.
At BTG we take these seriously – not just setting targets but setting a pathway to achieve them. We exceeded our first near-term Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reduction targets and are on our way to achieving our 2028/29 and 2030/31 targets.
We have measured our full Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for three years and achieved SBTi validation of our near-term and net zero goals. We have also had our 2025/26 emissions assured by a third party to a reasonable standard across each scope, against ISO 14064-1.
This transparency is important to us, so we can determine the best way forward to reduce emissions. Almost 90% of our emissions are from purchased good and services, so we focus on working with our suppliers – but we also look at areas where we directly affect our emissions.
To achieve net zero in 2040, we already purchase 100% renewable energy for our owned offices and have a Cycle to Work and EV scheme.
Our SBTi-validated GHG emissions reduction targets
By 2028/29 (from 2020/21 baseline)
Reduce Scope 2 emissions by 100%
By 2030/31 (from 2022/23 baseline)
Reduce Scope 1 emissions by 60%
Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 50%
By 2040/41
Reach net zero emissions across the value chain
Focusing on reuse and recycling to reduce our waste
Using resources efficiently is key to sustainability, with circularity becoming a greater concern. We set ourselves ambitious targets for waste reduction and recycling, which are published in our waste and water policy. Our targets are based on a reduction of waste produced per employee and the percentage of waste recycled across the whole business, which allows for growth while ensuring our targets remain relevant.
Our waste targets, from a baseline of 2023/24, are:
Ambitious water reduction targets
Our use of water as a resource also needs careful consideration. BTG’s operations are within the UK and all the water the Group uses is sourced from the mains through UK utility companies. None of our areas of operation is considered water stressed, but, given the impacts of climate change – including increasing drought periods – we cannot be complacent in the UK about water availability. So, we are taking steps to measure and reduce our water use.
We set ourselves ambitious water reduction targets and published these in our new waste and water policy. Our targets are based on a reduction of water used per employee, which allows for growth while ensuring our targets remain relevant.
Our water targets, from a 2023/24 baseline, are:
Progress against our targets
Having already made good progress against our environmental targets, we continue to push ourselves to do more.
We achieved our 2025/26 Scope 2 target four years early, following a company-wide switch to renewable energy for all electricity at our owned offices. We are aiming to maintain our 100% reduction in emissions.
Our 2025/26 Scope 1 target was also exceeded by achieving a 68% reduction in emissions from our baseline year. This reduction was achieved by switching to 100% biogas for all our owned offices with gas heating and by replacing HVAC systems.
In June 2024, we received validation of our near-term and net zero carbon reduction targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This aligns our targets with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Overall Net-Zero Target:
Near-Term Targets:
Long-Term Targets:
Reducing our emissions is our highest priority for our transition to net zero and, while we are on that journey, we want to invest in projects and initiatives that drive change. We have used the Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting (revised 2024) to guide our approach to funding carbon avoidance and removal. And, as part of our approach to increasing the storage durability of our carbon removal, we have incorporated a UK Biochar project.
We also want to support projects that benefit local communities and nature, because a just transition and the biodiversity crisis are also important global issues. We’re aware of the challenges inherent in carbon removal and offsetting, so are careful to ensure that the programmes we invest in are backed by recognised carbon standards. We work with Ecologi, a leading climate action platform, to manage our residual emissions by investing in a diverse portfolio of high-quality carbon credits. Ecologi supports Gold Standard and Verra-approved carbon reduction, and community- and biodiversity-enhancing projects around the world.
To cover the value of our Scope 1 and 2 emissions across the Group, our investment in a UK Biochar project, based close to our Leatherhead office, provides durable long-lived carbon storage as our removal credits. This is in line with our net zero strategy, which mandates the use of carbon removal credits to cover the residual emissions – up to 10% of our emissions – for areas where we cannot remove the carbon from the activity, such as air travel.
For Scope 3 (categories 2 to 8), Bytes has invested in nature-based carbon removal credits to cover its business travel (category 6), including mangrove restoration in Pakistan and reforestation in Mexico, supporting jaguar habitats. For the remaining categories, carbon avoidance credits have been purchased, including in a clean cookstoves project in Uganda, supporting healthier communities, and rainforest protection through the Matavén REDD+ project in Columbia.
Phoenix is investing in UK nature projects in areas such as peatland, meadow and seagrass restoration to support UK nature initiatives. While we can’t allocate this against our emissions, it supports ecological restoration in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
Collective action on climate is not just for businesses; as individuals we all have a part to play. We are supporting our people to do more through carbon literacy awareness training. Launched in 2024/25, the training aims to increase our people’s understanding of the causes and impacts of climate change, and the steps they can take to reduce their own carbon footprint. It also explains our reporting requirements, our GHG emissions reduction targets and our plans to get us there.
In 2026/27 we are building this into mandatory training modules to ensure this is seen by a wider audience and updated annually.
Managing our value-chain emissions is crucial to our net zero ambitions.
Nearly 90% of our total emissions came from purchased goods and services. Of this, 80% are from our top 13 vendors. Microsoft is our largest supplier and formed 59% of our emissions in 2025/26. However, many of our largest vendors are working hard to reduce their emissions and, if they meet their stated emissions targets, then we should also be able to meet ours.
Our approach is to work with our suppliers to better understand their emissions and how they relate more specifically to our purchases, which will help us in informing our customers. We will also engage to assess our risk from all aspects of ESG in our supply chain and to understand what areas of sustainability are most important to our suppliers and what their challenges are.
Cutting emissions and protecting the planet more broadly is a collective goal, so we also work with others, beyond BTG, to support policy changes, government goals and other businesses.
We respond to consultations, including those involving the UK’s Sustainability Reporting Standards, the SBTi and research around incorporating nature in reporting. We have employees who are members of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP, formerly the IEMA) and of the Sustainable Business Network, which supports and empowers Surrey businesses to adopt low-carbon behaviours and operations.
BTG and Phoenix are both members of the Government Digital Sustainability Alliance (GSDA), contributing to the UK Government’s understanding and strategy around reducing Scope 3 emissions from technology. The GDSA was established to improve digital sustainability outcomes for the UK Government and its supply chain – and, in doing so, support wider strategies, such as the Greening Government Commitments, the Net Zero Pathway and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
2020/21
ISO 14001 environmental management system attained
Initial measurement of our carbon footprint
Reported Scope 1, 2 and 3 (business travel) emissions under SECR guidelines
2021/22
Launched low-carbon action plan
Completed move to 100% renewable electricity
Achieved carbon neutral operational emissions through offsetting
Announced net zero by 2040 goal
2022/23
Partnered with a specialist consultancy to help analyse Scope 3 emissions
Expanded our Scope 3 reporting from two to six categories
Moved to 100% green gas in our Phoenix operations
Exceeded Scope 2 emissions target
Made first submission to CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project)
2023/24
Appointed first Group sustainability manager
Submitted carbon reduction targets to the SBTi
Achieved our first CDP score
Expanded measurement of Scope 3 categories, with all relevant categories now fully reported
Maintained 100% renewable energy for our owned offices
2024/25
Validation of our targets by the SBTi
Developing transition plans to achieve our near-term and net zero emissions targets
Continued focus on reducing emissions related to employee commuting and business travel
Development of a carbon literacy and sustainability education programme
2025/26
Achieved reasonable assurance on our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by a third party for the first time
Published waste and water policy, including reduction targets
Achieved 2025/26 Scope 1 target for 50% reduction – by achieving a 68% reduction
Used 100% renewable energy (electricity and biogas) across all owned offices
2026/27
Initiate a supplier engagement programme
Embed carbon literacy into mandatory annual training
Aim to publish our net zero transition plan
We can help accelerate the UK’s move to a low-carbon economy through the solutions we provide to our customers, through our vendors and our services. One of the main ways we do this is by supporting our customers to understand their emissions from using technology we provide, such as helping customers understand Microsoft M365 and Azure carbon reports and by advising them on more sustainable hardware and software approaches. Aligned with this are services we provide through FinOps and GreenOps, which optimise workloads in the cloud to avoid unnecessary spend and resource wastage.
Increasingly, AI is adding to carbon footprints. To promote efficient use of AI, we provide ‘prompt’ training to customers (and our own employees) on using Microsoft Copilot to reduce the number of queries and refinements needed to get to the desired answer.
Our sustainability progress
Find out more about our sustainability work in our Sustainability Report.
Our environmental policies
Our policies explain the steps we take to continually improve our environmental performance.
Engaging with suppliers
Our commitment to and expectations of our suppliers are set out in our operating companies’ supplier codes of conduct
