Environment and Emissions
ScottMadden is committed to understanding the environmental impacts of our operations— particularly emissions from business travel—and constantly striving to improve the sustainability of our work.
Identifying Opportunities
We are thoughtful about managing our environmental impact while delivering top-tier consulting services. Environmental concerns are important to both our internal and external stakeholders. Key environmental topics include the impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability in service delivery, and energy efficiency. We are actively addressing these priority areas through initiatives involving our staff, clients, and the broader communities where we operate. To underscore our dedication to these priorities, we recently completed a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory verification exercise and received limited assurance for our scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting.
2024 Highlights
In 2024, we continued our efforts to mitigate our own emissions and environmental footprint:
Carbon Management Approach
Purchased offsets for 100% of our annual GHG emissions—as we have done every year since 2018—using high-quality, verified offsets while also continuously exploring responsible mitigation strategies.
Enhanced Criteria for Offset Project Selection
Updated our selection criteria for carbon offset projects in response to the evolving offset marketplace. We have selected a diverse range of project types in Chile, Bangladesh, and Ghana, each designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deliver meaningful benefits to local communities.
Rigorous Emissions Verification and Improvement
Followed GHG ISO 14064-3:2018 standards, leading us to refine our emissions assumptions and consider additional sources of GHG emissions.
Sustainable Office Practices
Supported waste reduction strategies through composting programs in our Raleigh and Atlanta offices.
Investment in Technology for Sustainability and Efficiency
Invested in technologies that increase productivity and support a more sustainable business model that is less reliant on business travel.
2024 Carbon Tracking
In 2024, we advanced our commitment to tracking our emissions and continued to adapt to an upturn of business travel.
ScottMadden’s 2024 scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions totaled 830 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e), calculated in compliance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. This represents a 9% increase from 2023.
Scope 3 emissions continue to account for most of the company’s emissions at 84%; however, we have adapted our business model to make more considered decisions about travel for client support and internal needs. We continue to assess required travel and promote enhancements to delivering our services virtually which ultimately yield operational benefit and lower our emissions profile. As an example, this past year, we moved our annual meeting to a location that is more accessible by driving for all staff members.
Recent Improvements in Emissions Tracking and Reporting
- Refined Carbon Tracking Methodology: Continued to align our methodology with best practices to more accurately assess the environmental impact of business operations.
- Collaboration with Property Managers: Worked with property managers to better understand and estimate electricity usage estimates based on historical data.
- Refined Calculation Assumptions: Obtained limited assurance verification of our methodology and, in response to feedback from our assurance vendor, refined certain assumptions to align more closely with the GHG Protocol and EPA-recommended methodologies, including adopting EPA-provided spend-based emissions factors for particular types of expenditures (e.g., taxis).
- Inclusion of Additional Emission Sources: Based on our GHG inventory verification assurance, we identified two additional material categories of scope 3 emissions to consider including. We are evaluating the measurement and impact of purchased goods & services (category 1) and waste generated from operations (category 5).
