Environmental sustainability

HomeAbout usEnvironmental sustainability

What we’re doing to help build a sustainable future

As part of our commitment to a strong, sustainable future for our business, we subscribe to EcoVadis, a global index that benchmarks our environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance against more than 75,000 other organisations across all industries.

In 2022 we received the Platinum rating from Ecovadis, placing Colt in the top 1% of global businesses for sustainability, taking into account ratings for action and commitment in four categories: Environment, Labour and human rights, Ethics, and Sustainable procurement.

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Ambitious Science Based Targets

Climate change is a key pillar of our corporate sustainability strategy. As a large company with worldwide activities, we want to lead by example when working with our suppliers, partners, customers and communities to reduce our impact on the environment. 

We have set comprehensive, Near-Term and Long-Term Net Zero emissions targets approved by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Our Long-Term Net Zero targets has been approved in accordance with SBTi Net Zero Standard, the world's first corporate net zero standard. 

You can take a look at our Carbon Reduction Plan here.

What are Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the different Scopes?

Our carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused both directly and indirectly by an organisation. We have completed an extensive investigation into where emissions are created in Colt and also in our supply chain.

GHG emissions are categorised into a number of 'scopes' to help companies understand where the emissions originated and how they can be reduced.

Scope 1 - Direct Emissions

These GHG emissions result from owned or controlled sources, such as Colt's company vehicles, gas consumption and diesel use for generators globally.

Scope 2 - Indirect Emissions

These GHG emissions come from purchased electricity, steam, heating, or cooling consumed by any Colt location around the world.

Scope 3 - Supply and Value Chain Emissions

These GHG emissions come from the rest of the value chain and are made up mostly from supply chain emissions. This scope also includes business travel, employee commuting,  upstream and downstream leased assets, and waste disposal.

How will we achieve our Science Based Targets?

Some of the our targets include:

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renewable electricity for all sites globally by 2023

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of supply chain emissions targeted for alignment to Scope 1 & 2, 1.5C SBTi target by 2025

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electric vehicles in company fleet by 2025 and 75% by 2030

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switch to renewable gas by 2030

What are Colt’s baseline emissions?

We have done extensive investigation to truly understand our starting point. In December 2022, we resubmitted and updated our near-term science-based target to ensure the baseline is aligned to best practice and the most recent requirements set by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

These targets are now set on a baseline that includes Well-To-Tank (WTT) emissions for relevant Scope 3 categories.

2019 (base year)
Gross direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions in metric tons of CO2e 4,459
Gross indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions in metric tons of CO2e (market-based) 32,146
Gross Indirect (Scope 3) emissions in metric tons of CO2e 602,960
Total emissions in metric tons of CO2e (market-based) 639,565

Our 2030 aims

Near-Term Target:

Colt Group commits to reduce absolute scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions 47% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.  

Colt Group commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 28% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. 

How will we reduce Scope 3 emissions?

As you can see from the above baseline our Scope 3 emissions are a substantial element of our overall emissions. We are committed to working with our value chain to reduce these emissions using methods such as; 

  • Engaging with suppliers to encourage them to make increasingly sustainable choices- this is important because by them reducing their Scope 1 and 2 emissions it reduces our Scope 3 emissions 
  • Encouraging our suppliers to make the same commitment as Colt by setting Science-based targets aligned to 1.5 degrees for scopes 1 & 2 
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We are already in the decade which will define the global response to the ever-increasing threat of climate change. It is important to Colt that we set robust, long term targets firmly rooted in science to enable us to help mitigate the risk this has to humanity and the planet. The Science-Based Targets Initiative is recognised globally as the best authority in this space.

The long-term nature of science-based targets ensures that we have a clear direction for our business as well as shifting our focus towards the development of innovative solutions and new opportunities to support the transition to a low carbon economy. We also want to build in resilience to our operations by moving beyond current regulation.

This is the future of business and our customers can rest assured that by working with Colt, we will not have a significant impact on their carbon footprint as we work hard to drive down emissions across our entire value chain. We must all act together for the greater good of our planet.

Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement is the first-ever legally-binding climate change agreement.

It sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change. Countries who signed this agreement pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees, and to aim to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees as this lower temperature increase will significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.