Rayner Essex’s Path to Net Zero and Sustainability

Sustainability is now a top priority for businesses, shifting from a future concern to an urgent necessity. At Rayner Essex, we understand that addressing sustainability involves more than environmental issues; it’s about making changes across all areas of our business. As financial advisors, we have a key role in leading these efforts, ensuring our practices are transparent and responsible as we work towards a sustainable future.

What is NetZero?

Net zero refers to the balancing of the greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere with the offsetting by the same amount removed from it. By achieving this balance, our total emissions have no net impact on the atmosphere. To reach net zero, it’s crucial to adopt renewable energy and sustainable practices that lower emissions, alongside boosting natural methods like tree planting to absorb carbon. This approach is vital for addressing climate change effectively.

The climate change treaty – The Paris Agreement

The 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by 194 countries, sets ambitious targets to limit global warming to well below  2°C, aiming for 1.5°C. This landmark treaty requires all signatories to establish and pursue rigorous emissions targets, underscoring the urgent need for action across industries, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which represent about 90% of businesses and account for approximately 60% of emissions.

The urgency of sustainable practices

Climate change poses significant threats, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, accelerated species extinction, and impacts on human health and food security. These challenges threaten biodiversity, cause economic instability, and lead to resource scarcity, making it crucial for businesses to adopt sustainable practices to address both environmental and broader social and economic impacts.

The challenge of climate change is not only environmental but also humanitarian, demanding a comprehensive transformation across all industry sectors.

Why should businesses care?

As climate change reaches a critical stage, it’s increasingly important for businesses to focus on sustainability. Current data shows we are behind in meeting the global target of reducing our emissions by 50% by 2030 and of achieving net zero by 2050. By adopting sustainable practices, businesses not only help address this urgent environmental issue but also gain economic and reputational benefits. Implementing carbon reduction mitigation strategies can lead to cost savings, attract eco-conscious customers and investors, and ensure compliance with tightening regulations. For a business like ours, actively pursuing sustainability is not just a responsibility – it’s an essential strategy for long-term success in a rapidly changing world.

Why sustainability is important for Rayner Essex

While it is not yet mandatory for businesses of our size to report on carbon emissions, Rayner Essex chooses to be proactive. The focus on sustainability is intensifying, and many of our clients and partners are now expected to disclose their emissions and seek sustainable relationships. By not taking action, we risk falling behind, which could have a detrimental affect our business. Therefore, embracing sustainability is not only a strategic decision but a necessary one to ensure our relevance and resilience in a rapidly evolving corporate landscape.

Our commitment to sustainability

As Trusted Advisors, our commitment to sustainability is deeply rooted in our core values of being a responsible firm – acting ethically and responsibly towards our clients, our employees and the community we serve.

Our longer term goal at Rayner Essex is to enhance our services to include comprehensive advice on carbon reduction strategies, reflecting our ongoing commitment to act responsibly and support our clients’ sustainability carbon reduction strategies and goals. In the meantime, we aim to lead by example.

This commitment is part of our broader strategy to ensure ethical and responsible sustainable practices towards our clients, our employees, and the communities we serve.

Understanding our impact

To initiate meaningful change, we first undertook a detailed analysis of our carbon footprint in partnership with Ecologi.

This assessment conducted a detailed analysis of our emissions covering scope 1 (direct emissions), scope 2 (purchased energy usage), and scope 3 (indirect emissions, including business travel, supply chain and procurement), providing us with a clear baseline from which to implement effective reduction strategies moving forward.

Rayner Essex’s proactive sustainability: setting a strong carbon footprint baseline

We were thrilled with the results of our initial carbon footprint assessment. Rayner Essex had already implemented several sustainable practices, including switching to fully renewable energy suppliers, adopting paperless processes, and enhancing our recycling efforts.

These proactive steps have positioned us above the industry average in terms of tCO2e per £1000 in revenue and per full-time employee, providing an excellent starting point for further improvements. We will soon release a detailed report on our baseline carbon footprint, where we will delve into the key findings and announce our targeted reduction goals.

We are already well-aligned with several UN ESG Goals including Good Health & Wellbeing, Quality Education, Gender Equality and Reducing Inequality, Decent Work & Economic Growth, and Climate Action and remain committed to enhancing our sustainability strategies moving forward.

Our sustainable goals at Rayner Essex

Our starting point in carbon reduction is aligned with the Ecologi certification aiming for 50% carbon reduction by 2030. Our ongoing efforts include annual carbon footprint reporting and GHG data publication, demonstrating transparency and a commitment to continuous improvement.

At Rayner Essex, sustainability is becoming central to our operations and vision. By actively pursuing sustainability, we meet stakeholder expectations and contribute to global climate efforts. Our journey to Net Zero reflects our core values and outlines our future direction. We look forward to sharing our baseline carbon reduction report with you soon.