Environmental Sustainability Report 2022
Our commitment to reducing our environmental impact
Overview
Netcall’s long-term growth is underpinned by a set of value-based operating principles. These are regularly reviewed and adapted as Netcall develops. They centre on customer focus, innovation, integrity, quality and teamwork. The culture of Netcall is characterised by these values. They are communicated widely including within the competency framework — which sets out how we want our colleagues to work within Netcall — and promoted throughout the organisation by managers in their daily work.
Scope 1
Covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources.
Scope 2
Covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by a reporting company.
Scope 3
The Group has started to measure scope 3 emissions which cover indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.
Our commitment
Netcall is committed to reducing our environmental impact and enhancing our environmental policy and environmental management systems, to establish and measure improvement in this area.
The Group is continuing its journey to measure and improve its impact on the environment. And our business is committed to working towards “carbon neutral” status — with an ambition to be carbon neutral by the end of 2026.
During the financial year, Netcall has measured and is voluntarily reporting its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which reduced by 30% to 32 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent ‘tCO2e’ (FY21: 46 tCO2e).
Netcall has purchased carbon offsets for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions at the Loch Ness Afforestation Project.
It entails establishing a permanent, diverse, native forest that joins up established forests. The planting site is made up of a range of native tree species including: Caledonian Scots pine, sessile oak, hazel, downy birch, rowan, eared willow and aspen planted during spring 2022.
Netcall’s submission to the Science Based Targets Initiative has been
successfully validated, providing a path to reduce emissions to net-zero.
Putting sustainability into practice
During the year, Netcall worked with partner DI Blue on the development of an Environmental Management System (EMS) built on the Liberty Create low-code Application Platform.
The implementation of the EMS will support management of key actions and improvements for environmental performance. The EMS app enables organisations to implement the ISO 14001:2015 standard. And the app is available to Netcall customers through the AppShare.
Environmental sustainability that benefits everyone
While starting with its operations, Netcall’s strategy expands beyond its business. It ensures the changes implemented flow into the Group’s product strategies — and benefit the organisations and communities in which it operates.
Today, for example, Netcall customers benefit from solutions:
- that reduce resource requirements and associated office and transportation costs, such as contact centre agents working from home;
- such as Patient Hub, which reduces carbon emissions with electronic communications — replacing printed and posted materials, directly improving NHS Trust emissions to help them meet their Net Zero promises;
- using technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and Computer Vision to improve efficiency and lower the carbon intensity of operations; and,
- that are cloud-based and leverage cloud operators’ large-scale efficiency innovations, combined with their ongoing carbon reduction strategies.
Digital transformation for the environment
In general, digital transformation increases automation and
improves stakeholder engagement and communications. That makes processes and interactions more efficient, helping cut carbon emissions for our customers and their ecosystems.
So, by implementing our solutions and delivering our roadmap, Netcall helps support our customers’ environmental strategies — all while working towards our own environmental targets.
Carbon neutral
A company is said to be carbon neutral by reducing their emissions and/or paying others to not emit an equivalent to their remaining emissions.
Netcall is committed to working towards
‘carbon neutral’ status, with an ambition to be
carbon neutral by the end of 2026.
Getting to
Carbon Neutral
Our strategy includes reducing and offsetting our Scope 1 and 2 emissions to zero this year and our Scope 3 emissions by 2026,
and then removing more carbon than we emit.
The framework for sustainability requires focus in three areas:
Operations
Products & services
Customers & partners
Employees
We will take responsibility for our carbon, water, waste and land footprints across the way our products and facilities are sourced, manufactured, operated, and managed at end-of-life. This includes our supply chain.
We will develop new technology and services driven by data, AI and digital technology to power environmental sustainability.
We will help our customers and partners around the world reduce their carbon, water, waste, and land footprints through our learnings, technology and services. We will work with partners to explore greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting using Netcall solutions.
We recognise our employees are the most important asset and resource in advancing innovation. And we’ll create new opportunities for them to contribute to our efforts.
Netcall is a software and service business with very little transport and distribution of solutions. Waste generated is typical of an office-based organisation, not a manufacturer.
Business travel, employee commuting, and home-working have changed considerably since the pandemic.
Using our solutions, Netcall customers can already reduce resource requirements and associated office and transportation costs, like contact centre agents working from home. But a key method to reduce their energy use is to migrate from on-site solutions to the cloud.
Cloud operators use their massive scale to adopt large-scale efficiency innovations.
In 2014, the US Natural Resources Defense Council’s report on data centre efficiency showed average server utilisation remained static at 12% to 18% between 2006 and 2012, while hyperscalers could achieve 40% to 70%. Higher utilisation is more efficient. That’s why the move of Netcall customer workloads to the cloud will cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, helping customers meet their Net Zero targets.
Reducing Scope 3 emissions
We are reducing our Scope 3 emissions to net zero by 2026. While we don’t have direct control over the majority of emissions in the Scope 3 category, they represent the bulk of our emissions. We are addressing them in our carbon negative commitment by the following methods:
- Implementing an environmental management system
- Improving supplier emissions data tracking & reporting
- Further improving energy efficiency of devices and software
- In our solutions, we are continuing to reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact throughout lifecycles.
We are continuing our journey to measure and improve our impact on the environment. We have achieved our target of reducing our Scope 1 and 2
emissions to net zero by 2022. We have been validated by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), committing to science-based 1.5°C and net-zero
targets. In addition, we continue to work with our partners and customers to support their environmental strategies.
– Henrik Bang, Netcall CEO
What’s next?
By 2026 we will reduce and offset our Scope 3 emissions to net zero. In advance of the commitment to become net zero by 2026, Netcall plans to offset travel emissions in the current financial year 2022-23.
We will continue to help our suppliers, customers, and partners reduce their carbon footprints through our learnings and with the power of intelligent automation and customer engagement.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Baseline: Financial year ending 30th June 2020
Additional details relating to the baseline emissions calculations: No prior Scope 3 emissions reporting.
Baseline: Financial year ending 30th June 2022
Additional details relating to the baseline emissions calculations: No prior Scope 3 emissions reporting.
Purchase of 100% renewable electricity for our offices has been implemented since the 2020 baseline.
The carbon emissions reduction achieved by these schemes equates to 34.6 tCO2e, a 52%ge reduction against the 2020 baseline
and the measures will be in effect when performing the contract.
Scope 1 Emissions
Scope 1 includes emissions resulting directly from Netcall’s activity, such as fuel used in vehicles or gas burnt in boilers to heat facilities.
• In financial year 20 Netcall CO2e emissions for the use of gas to heat office building was 36.6 tonnes.
• In financial year 22 Netcall CO2e emissions for the use of gas to heat office buildings
was 32.0 tonnes.
This is a reduction of 4.4 tonnes of CO2e, 12%.
Scope 2 Emissions
Scope 2 includes indirect emissions primarily from purchased electricity. Energy efficiency and procurement of green power are key to reduce Scope 2 emissions.
• In financial year 20 Netcall CO2e emissions for the use of electricity in office buildings was 30.0 tonnes.
• In financial year 22 Netcall CO2e emissions for the use of electricity in office buildings
was 0.0 tonnes.
This is a reduction of 33.0 tonnes of CO2e, 100%.
Scope 3 Emissions
Scope 3 includes all indirect emissions that occur across Netcall’s value chain, both downstream and upstream.
These sources are extensive and includes business travel of employees and the full lifecycle of products, including the electricity that clients consume when using a Netcall solution.
Scope 3 is optional, but it provides an opportunity to be innovative in greenhouse gas management.
Netcall will focus on accounting for and reporting those activities that are relevant to our business and goals, and for which we have reliable information. In advance of mandatory reporting requirements, Netcall will capture and analyse data for the following Scope 3 categories:
- Business travel
- Employee commuting
- Waste generated in operations
- Upstream transportation and distribution
- Downstream transportation and distribution
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