We want to reduce our impact on the environment
Environmental responsibility forms an important part of LifeArc’s overall commitment to society.
We want to reduce our impact on the environment and are committed to doing more every year to achieve this goal.
We will do this by reducing energy and carbon usage and greenhouse gas emissions associated with our operations and investments.
Our operations
We go beyond regulatory requirements to measure wider sources of greenhouse emissions and understand our energy usage and carbon footprint in finer detail so we can better evaluate our total environmental impact.
We will measure energy and greenhouse gas emissions over which we have operational control. Currently, LifeArc is mandated to report on carbon footprint contributions from electricity usage and business mileage. LifeArc goes beyond these requirements to also report on water usage, waste disposal, employee commuting and wider business travel. We further intend to expand on this range of emissions sources in regular updated footprint assessments.
We are still at an early stage in our reporting, but in 2022 and beyond, this information will help us:
- better understand how we use energy and how we can reduce consumption
- set our future carbon targets and plan how we make progress towards and reach them
- identify priorities for emissions reduction and act on them to reach our targets
- make informed decisions to purchase goods and services with lower environmental impacts
- design and test initiatives to reduce energy consumption, minimise plastic, electrical and food waste in our labs and offices, and encourage re-use of materials where feasible.
We report our carbon footprint and how we are reducing it in our annual report. We are committed to making rapid progress.
Our plans
- In the short term, our plans will focus on reducing the main electricity impacts of LifeArc, including exploring the feasibility of renewable energy on site and procuring energy from even more renewable sources.
- We will also work to promote more sustainable methods of transport and provide EV chargers for employee use.
- Longer term, we will focus on other emissions sources such as water usage and waste disposal.
Our investments
The investment funds in which we allocate monies also have a significant impact on the environment.
We endeavour to invest with fund managers who have a transparent policy on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, which is fully integrated into their investment process. We have also formulated our own policy to aid the allocation of capital in a more efficient and effective manner from an ESG perspective.
Our Environmental, Social and Governance Policy sets out:
- Core beliefs
- Sector restrictions
- Integration of ESG into investment decisions
- Expectations of our fund managers
- Responsible ownership and monitoring of investments
Whilst ESG considerations are central to our investment ideology, we recognise that this subject is constantly evolving and that we need to dynamically adapt our own ESG Policy.