Progress
Progress towards sustainability
We are deeply committed to people and the planet; we strive for transparency by reporting on our journey towards becoming a more sustainable organisation.
Our key achievements
In 2024–25, we achieved a seventeen percent reduction in UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions, bringing our total reduction to 46 percent since our 2018–19 baseline, and keeping us on track to meet the 2030 target. Our progress comes from the success of several carbon reduction projects, including:
- Installing heat pumps at our warehouse and Cass Centre in the UK to replace gas-fired heating
- Installing solar array at our warehouse and an expanded solar array on the roof of The Triangle building in the UK
- Using artificial intelligence to analyse energy metering and identify inefficiencies
For more details, see our Carbon Emissions Report.
Our sustainability reporting
We report annually on our progress on embedding the UN Global Compact’s ten principles into our operations and activities. Our current report can be viewed on the UN Global Compact website.
Being a signatory to the UN Global Compact helps us be more sustainable and inclusive, across our operations, supply chains and educational efforts.
We also publish information about pay and our plans to address any pay differences between genders in our annual Gender Pay Gap Report.
Our carbon emissions reporting
We are committed to being carbon zero on all energy-related emissions by 2048, with a 72 per cent reduction by 2030. To track our progress, we report regularly on our carbon emissions, and the actions we’re taking towards our target. Learn more in our Carbon Emissions Reports:
Our accreditation and sustainability awards
The passion, energy and commitment of our colleagues has resulted in external recognition, including accreditation to international standards and an array of sustainability awards.
- We are a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Publishers Compact. This means that, as well as working toward the goals, we use our influence to increase knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues and inspire action.
- We have joined more than 190 printers, publishers and booksellers as a signatory to the Publishing Declares Climate Action pledge, an agreement to act on climate change, protect life on land and advocate for sustainability. By working collectively with the publishing industry, we can transform the way our industry works.
- We regularly receive external audits to confirm that we meet the international ISO 14001 standard for managing our environmental performance. We've held an ISO14001 certification since 2007 and have recently added our distribution centres to the scope of the certification.
- We have won the Independent Publishers Guild’s Sustainability Award twice, been finalists on a third occasion and were shortlisted again this year. These awards recognise the actions we have taken to make our operations more sustainable, our climate change and sustainability publishing, and the energy and enthusiasm of our colleagues.
- In 2022, we achieved a Platinum Green Impact award for our UK operations from Students Organising for Sustainability in recognition of our efforts to promote sustainability practises at work. We have also won a Silver award for our Cape Town team and Bronze for our Madrid and Bologna teams.
- We are working with the Book Chain Project to capture detailed information about the environmental impact of our supply chain and identify areas for improvement. We have also completed audits with the top 25 percent of our suppliers using Sedex Members Ethical Trace Audit, helping us to understand working conditions in our supply chain.
