Carbon neutrality has been achieved by financial services company EY, but it is not resting on its laurels as it works to help address climate change.

Its goal this year is to become carbon negative, which means taking more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than it is responsible for emitting.

And its green ambitions do not stop there.

EY wants to reach net zero by 2025 – to do that it will need to achieve a science-based target where it has scaled down its carbon footprint to only “unavoidable or residual emissions”, while removing the equivalent amount of emissions from the atmosphere.

Within the next four years the company intends to reduce its travel emissions by 35 per cent, when compared with 2019. It will reduce its overall office electricity usage, and it will require 75 per cent of its suppliers, by spend, to set science-based emission reduction targets by 2025.

Dan Scott, EY regional managing Partner for the EY region of the Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, said: “Everything we do at EY is driven by our purpose of building a better working world, and promoting sustainability is a natural extension of our purpose. Addressing climate change is an urgent issue for the health of our people and communities worldwide. This initiative is an important representation of the collaborative efforts companies are making across the globe to address the irreversible impacts of climate change. I couldn’t be more proud of EY for prioritising this.”

On its website, the company has outlined steps it is taking to go from carbon negative this year, to net zero in four years’ time. One step is to introduce more renewable electricity than it consumes into various national grids around the world.

It is also collaborating with an organisation called South Pole to preserve natural environments, including the Kariba Forest in Zimbabwe, and assisting the Guanare Forest restoration in Uruguay. It is investing in wind, solar and hydro projects in places such as North Sumatra and Turkey.

Craig Redcliffe, EY Bermuda Partner and regional ILS leader, said: “This new EY goal will transform EY into a global leader in sustainability, and help our clients do the same. I’m incredibly proud of our passion and collaboration to tackle climate change and drive long-term value creation.”

More information on EY’s sustainability efforts can be found at https://www.ey.com/en_gl/sustainability