Three actions to help embed net zero across your business

Sodexo employs around 30,000 people in the UK and Ireland, and we partner with clients in a range of sectors: business and industry; schools and universities; sports and leisure; energy and resources; government and agencies; healthcare; justice and defence. 

For us, growth and social commitment go hand in hand. Our purpose is to create a better everyday for everyone, so we focus on tangible actions that will have a positive economic, social and environmental impact over time. 

We began our decarbonisation journey in 2010, when we collaborated with WWF to understand our carbon footprint. Now, we’re targeting a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2030. We’ll reach net zero once we’ve achieved our long-term target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045, with all remaining emissions neutralised. 

Getting there will need commitment at all levels of our business, along with the support of our clients and partners. We focused on embedding a net zero culture to accelerate delivery, so here’s our tips for other companies that are looking to ramp up their decarbonisation activity: 

1. Ensure good governance and accountability 

Getting buy in and advocacy from senior leaders is critical. This includes building understanding of key terms – net zero, decarbonisation, carbon equivalent, etc – so that everyone is clear about the impact of working towards our targets. 

To provide added confidence, we had our targets reviewed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). They’ve validated our near and long-term emissions reduction targets, making Sodexo one of the first food service companies to achieve this. 

We use all kinds of mechanisms to hold ourselves accountable and communicate our progress transparently. Preventing food waste is a key enabler to our net zero commitment, for example, so we’re using a technology called “WasteWatch” to measure and improve perform