Climate change: Leeds-based Zenith becomes a carbon neutral business

The Leeds-based firm confirmed today that it had received international recognition with certification from international environmental consultancy Carbon Footprint.

After calculating its carbon footprint for the first time in December 2020, the company has offset its carbon emissions for 2021 using globally recognised and verified carbon credits.

The strategy will see more than 800 trees planted in Yorkshire schools, investment in biomass projects in Malawi, reducing deforestation in the Amazon and solar power schemes in Vietnam.

Alan Bastey, customer relationship director and electric vehicle (EV) specialist at Zenith, said: “The successful companies of tomorrow are the ones that take decisive action to tackle climate change today.

"Everyone at Zenith has played a part in hitting this milestone. However, this is just the start of our journey, and we plan to be an industry leader in this field, as we now engage across our business and supply chain to reduce emissions.

“We have already gone beyond the initial requirements by including carbon emissions from homeworkers within the offsetting calculations,” he added.

Zenith said its carbon offset strategy included a comprehensive examination of their company car use, the energy that the company’s buildings consumed, home vehicle charging and a wide range of factors in its supply chain.

The move follows the company’s commitment to the global EV100 initiative, which is focused on accelerating the transition to EVs and making electric transport the new normal by 2030. The EV100 initiative, developed by The Climate Group, brings together forward-looking companies to drive the electric transport transition, reduce air pollution and act on climate change.

Zenith is switching its own company car fleet to 100% EV by 2025 – five years ahead of the target date required by EV100. Electric transport offers a major environmental solution by cutting millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year, as well as curbing transport related air and noise pollution.