Carbon Reduction Policy

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to adopt a legal commitment to achieve ‘Net Zero’ carbon emissions by 2050.

ABM Training will support the Government’s objective by becoming a Net Zero provider by 2050. We will also work closely with all of our partners to ensure that our London provision is all Net Zero by 2030 as well, in line with the London Mayor’s target.

The Government provides a technical standard for completion of Carbon Reduction Plans (CRPs), which sets out how suppliers’ plans can be considered in the procurement of in-scope central Government contracts (subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and contracts over £5 million per annum).

ABM Training has produced a CRP and our Senior Management Team (SMT) will update and tailor versions of this baseline CRP for each procurement and annually (whichever comes first). Updating will also take account of and record efforts made to reduce emissions over extended periods of time.

ABM CRPs will meet the reporting requirements set out in the Government’s guidance.

Our CRPs will include information on our current carbon footprint and commitment to reducing emissions to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Our CRPs will help Government and other stakeholders and partners to understand the impact of our contracts and wider operations on the environment. They will detail our emissions across a single year against a range of emissions sources and greenhouse gasses.

Individual CRPs will be provided when responding to in-scope procurements.

Our CRPs will not replace existing reporting for calculation of organisational carbon footprint but present a summary document that details high level information, demonstrating compliance with clearly defined, standard measures. 

We will use the same reporting period throughout submissions to ensure the most accurate and meaningful data can be used. To this end, our CRPs will be reviewed and updated within 6 months of the organisation’s financial year-end.

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol breaks emissions sources down into three categories or Scopes.

All Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are to be included when competing our CRPs, along with a subset of Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions can represent up to 80% of our carbon footprint so although these are not directly the responsibility of ABM Training we will seek to reduce them by ensuring that our supply chain also reduces its carbon emissions. There are 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions defined by the GHG Protocol. We will select and define the scope 3 categories that we will work with for each CRP.

We will report our carbon footprint against each scope and include the following data:

Scope 1 – will include direct emissions from the company’s owned or controlled sources. This includes emissions from fleet vehicles. Scope 1 emissions also encompass process emissions that are released during training.

Scope 2 – will include indirect emissions from electricity and energy consumed e.g. electricity purchased from our utility company.

Scope 3 – will include indirect GHG emissions that occur as a result of ABM’s activities beyond our operational control. These emissions encompass the entire life cycle of our services. We will include the following assessment of Scope 3 emissions:

Supply chain emissions: These might arise from transportation of materials and equipment.

Service use emissions: These occur when learners use our services. For instance, any travel to/from training sessions and/or job/apprenticeship interviews.

End-of-life emissions: These arise from the disposal and treatment of waste e.g. the recycling or disposal of electronic devices.

Business travel emissions: These result from employee travel for work-related purposes, such as during training and/or employer visits and/or attending conferences.

ABM Training will identify its current carbon footprint to benchmark a starting point.

Our starting point will use data from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 and will be repeated annually.

We will calculate our carbon footprint in accordance with best industry practice, using the best and latest data available. Our carbon footprint will adhere to GHG Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and will be conducted using a third party organisation with the relevant expertise to ensure that the resulting emissions assessment is robust and accurate. We will use the ISO14064-3 approach for the verification of GHG emissions and work towards this British Standard and gain direct ISO14064-3 accreditation.

We will report tCO2e emissions against the seven greenhouse gasses named by the Kyoto Protocol: 

•              Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 

•              Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) 

•              Methane (CH4) 

•              Nitrous Oxide (N2O) 

•              Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) 

•              Perfluorocarbons (PCFs) 

•              Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) 

GHG emissions, reductions of GHG emissions and removals of GHG from the atmosphere will be measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (tCO2e) using the appropriate conversion factors published by BEIS. A “tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent” means one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or an amount of any other greenhouse gas with an equivalent warming potential. In accordance with GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standard, ABM’s carbon footprint will account for emissions within our operational boundary using the Financial Control methodology. 

Financial Control Methodology

We will report on all sources of carbon emissions over which we have financial control i.e. if we can direct the financial and operating policies of the service with a view to financially managing its activities e.g., setting budgets, managing expenditure and/or obtaining an income.