CEF has achieved the prestigious Planet Mark Business Certification which recognises CEF’s commitment to measuring and reducing carbon emissions, energy and water consumption, travel and waste by a minimum of 5% year on year.
Carbon emissions
CEF’s baseline carbon footprint includes emissions from energy use (natural gas and electricity), fleet travel and other fuel, equivalent to 10,980 flights from London to New York.
CEF will continue to measure its carbon footprint and aims to reduce carbon emissions by a minimum of 5% each year.
Social value
The Planet Mark report also measures CEF’s social value contribution at £1,785,850.
The baseline figure measures the social value that CEF provides through its people, procurement processes, training, apprenticeships and charitable donations.
Championing sustainability in the electrical industry
The Planet Mark Business Certification is part of a company-wide sustainability programme with management information and specific improvement recommendations to help achieve goals to cut carbon, energy, water and waste on an annual and ongoing basis.
CEF was also the first organisation of its type to sign up to the Construction Leadership Council’s ambitious campaign to drive carbon out of the industry and is a CO2nstruct Business Champion.
CEO Charlie Beddows comments: “Understanding our social and environmental impact is fundamental to our commitment to responsible and sustainable growth. Sustainability is a complex issue, but we want to understand our impact on the environment and then proactively work to minimise it.”
Chris Ashworth, CEF’s Managing Director adds: “Our commitment to sustainability is highlighted by our work with Planet Mark. With their help we can continue to measure and assess where we can reduce our carbon emissions and increase our social value. We are already working on ways to do this and are determined to lead the electrical industry. By acting now, we can aspire to be a catalyst for change.”
Wider sustainable impacts
Through CEF’s wider sustainability work, the business is contributing towards five of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals including quality education, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, and climate action.
As a Planet Mark partner, CEF have protected an acre of endangered rainforest through Cool Earth; a charity working alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation. Together with other Planet Mark certified businesses, CEF is helping Cool Earth to support 13 rainforest partnerships, protecting 139,572 hectares of rainforest and storing over 22 million tonnes of carbon.
Planet Mark Business Certification is just one part of CEF’s ambitious sustainability and social value strategy which will be launched in May 2022, when the business will set out details of its vision to nurture a culture of care, protect the world we live in and enhance the communities it serves.
