Apex Group Ltd., a global financial services provider, has launched a Carbon Footprint Assessment & Reporting service to meet growing market demand.

The new offering helps funds and companies to measure the sources of emissions, implement plans to reduce their carbon footprint and provide a mechanism to offset any residual emissions.

The launch coincides with new global research released by Apex today which found that 91 per cent of private equity leaders believe that climate change is an urgent issue, and 81 per cent agree that they and their portfolio companies should take greater responsibility for their carbon footprint.

Despite that, the survey revealed that at present just half of Private Equity firms measure the carbon footprint of their investments or offset their carbon emissions.

Carbon neutrality is seen as an achievable goal by those that took part, with 55 per cent saying that they have plans underway, with a further 45 per cent holding aspirations to achieve carbon neutrality but don’t yet have plans underway.

Nearly three quarters agree or strongly agree (74 per cent) that a carbon reduction plan would advantage their key stakeholders, such as employees, institutional investors and clients.

In response to this clear market need, Apex has launched a Carbon Footprint Assessment and Reporting service.

This unique offering quantifies and reports on a company’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by collecting all relevant data on a secure ESG online software platform to simplify the reporting requirements and seamlessly calculate a carbon footprint.

Reports can be used to identify and manage major sources of emissions, whilst aligning with the reporting requirements of key standards and regulations.

The platform uses over one million individual emission factors from the latest data sources and follows industry best practice reporting standards and regulations, such as the TCFD, CDP, GHG Protocol, SFDR, DEFRA, EPA and more, to understand and quantify a company’s carbon footprint and potential commercial risks.

This proprietary platform is also supported by a team of analysts to offer advice, guidance and support throughout the process. A key component of this is the recommendation of verified carbon offsetting project and schemes, so that businesses can offset any residual and unavoidable emissions to achieve carbon neutrality.

Andy Pitts-Tucker, Managing Director, Apex ESG Ratings & Advisory comments: “Beyond the moral and fiducial argument for reducing carbon emissions, there are now increasing commercial and regulatory pressures creating new risks to the bottom line.

“All companies must quantify and understand their carbon footprint in order to create and articulate an action plan to reduce their carbon emissions – and this new tool provides our clients with an efficient, accurate and accessible way to achieve this.”

Peter Hughes, CEO and Founder of Apex Group adds: “I feel strongly that climate change is not an issue to be solved by politicians alone. We, as private companies and individuals, all have a responsibility to take immediate action to understand and reduce our impact on the environment.

“The pressure on businesses and investors is gathering momentum and will be accelerated by all world leaders meeting at the UN COP26 this November. The time to drive positive and measurable change is now.”