The data-informed goals we have set are rooted in science and align with mitigation pathways recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We are also emboldened by the ambition of our parent, ENGIE, to become the leader in the energy and climate transition by setting wide-reaching goals in a way that reconciles economic, social and environmental performance. However, setting goals is just the first step. Transformation requires immediate action, so we have set short timelines to achieve these goals. In our transformation, we will shape new markets, leverage our own sustainability experts and capabilities, and engage an ecosystem of stakeholders to drive the greatest impact across our employees, communities, suppliers and clients.
Latest progress updated December 2020
We will balance our water use in the U.S. by the end of 2021 and internationally by the end of 2023.
We will reduce our upstream waste and waste to landfills to achieve zero waste by 2023.
ENGIE Impact has set a goal to be carbon negative by 2021. While ENGIE Impact offset all of its emissions already in 2019, our carbon goal calls for increased methodological rigor, science-based reduction of our carbon footprint, and an innovative strategy to compensate for our residual emissions. In 2020, we aim to reach carbon neutrality, and by 2021, we aim to be carbon negative by avoiding or removing more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit annually. Leading this strategy are some of the world's foremost sustainability consultants on carbon markets and greenhouse gas accounting across voluntary and regulated markets.
Shortly after we launched our Carbon Negative goal mid-2020, our team began to model key decarbonization levers that would reveal a pathway to define science-based goals. To do so, we first leveraged our verified GHG emissions baseline and modeled our business as usual trajectory over the next ten years. Next, we are exploring the potential impact of a range of policies and investments to reduce emissions, procure green power, and invest in high-quality offsets to meet our accelerated ambitions.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a critical role in these planning efforts, providing a unique testing ground for some of the key levers, such as business travel, commuting, and our digital footprint. Though circumstances will change, this period has enabled us to test and implement organization-wide tools, programs, and trainings that can catalyze emissions reduction without sacrificing productivity. More than ever, we recognize that reaching our target will require non-linear thinking, coupled with a coordinated transformation across our global ecosystem. In 2021, we will receive verification of our carbon neutral status.
Our strategy began in 2020 with a review of our water footprint and a scan of our water risks across our North American and global locations. The next step is collecting granular cost and consumption data to create a water baseline for office locations. However, with most offices closed due to COVID-19, it became difficult to collect the necessary data. Our experts are assessing the best approach to measure the environmental impact that was displaced from offices to homes during work hours to stay on track to meeting our goals. Working closely with global water stewardship partners, we will analyze discovery reports to identify high-risk locations, create a water baseline for each international office and drive forward mitigation strategies. Investing in Water Restoration Certificates that facilitate positive externalities in our communities will be a key focus area in 2021.
We recognize that constructive collaboration with our ecosystem of stakeholders will be key to meeting our goals. We have engaged in a series of high-level governance meetings to identify ideal partners and seek to participate in coalitions such as 50L Home to catalyze action around water conservation and re-use.
Our strategy began by analyzing waste audit data across North American location from previous on-site characterizations to estimate waste generation and diversion rates. With that foundational understanding of the baseline, our experts are better positioned to deliver tailored programs and identify ideal waste-diversion vendors for each U.S location. Given the evolving conditions of remote work due to COVID-19, we will use our historic waste invoice data and resume waste audits once employees return to offices. We are actively appointing 'waste champions' at each location to drive waste assessments and further analyze data to identify partners best suited to meet our unique needs.
Despite the challenges that COVID-19 brought to the waste industry, we relentlessly pursued our targets leveraging expertise and collaboration. Over the past few months, we ramped up digital sustainability efforts to systematically address e-waste. Our experts analyzed the impact of remote work on waste generation and diversion efforts and, in response, began to develop innovative solutions such as a Remote Waste Audit app, which will be made available to all employees in early 2021. To kick off remote waste reduction initiatives, we partnered with TerraCycle to bring the Zero Waste Box program to our team members in North America. Staying on track to meet our goal, we will continuously enhance our zero-waste strategy in 2021 to introduce employee education programs, new technology and zero waste procurement policies.
In the coming months, we will continue to communicate on our comprehensive Corporate Sustainability Program. As signatories of the United Nations Global Compact, we are working to design a program that will have the greatest impact on Sustainable Development Goals. Through this process, we aim to further integrate sustainable development across our enterprise management processes, systems and culture. Here is a glimpse into several critical areas of focus.
To enable our corporate purpose, ‘Make Sustainability Happen Today,’ we are committed to building a governance structure that drives global outcomes with local relevance. As a wholly owned subsidiary of ENGIE, our transparent business practices fully align with global policies, practices and reporting.
In line with ENGIE’s Human Rights policies, we actively support the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights. We will continue to raise awareness of human rights issues within our workforce and structure our supply chains to identify risks and ensure our partners demonstrate excellence in upholding these values.
Our greatest impact will come from reducing emissions across our value chain, spanning our suppliers, employees and our significant decarbonization work with clients. Within our supply chain, we will implement new policies and training to minimize air travel, strengthen sustainability criteria in supplier selection, and reduce emissions of information and communication and technology (ICT) systems.
We know that a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment with different perspectives creates stronger and more innovative solutions. Our program will target addressing inequality in society, fostering diversity in the workplace and advancing environmental justice. We recognize the significant work we must do in this area and the meaningful actions we will take to advance these critical outcomes.
To succeed in our mission, we must provide a safe, healthy environment in which our employees can learn and thrive. Health & Safety are deeply integrated into the design of our work environments as well as the promotion of a strong work-life balance. We invest in our employees, including new programs and tools to drive sustainability literacy, exchange ideas, and initiate projects at every office location.
We will empower employees to be sustainability champions in the office, at home and in their communities by introducing programs and opportunities that align with their passions and skills. We are researching global community giving programs and designing new options to enable employees to give back with their time, talent or money.
Learn more about the process we went through to prioritize the goals that would be most meaningful to our planet and our business
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