Jul 29 2020
Moody’s Corporation today announced that it has established new environmental sustainability commitments and progress milestones, including plans for expanding its carbon neutrality and procuring 100% renewable electricity, as well as target goals for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
“Contributing to an environmentally sustainable global future is a key business objective for Moody’s,” said Mark Kaye, Chief Financial Officer of Moody’s Corporation. “We are proud of the work we’ve done to enhance our environmental sustainability and will continue to expand and enhance our efforts to integrate best practices throughout our business, using science-based targets.”
Moody’s new environmental sustainability milestones and targets are as follows:
Carbon neutrality
Moody’s achieved carbon neutrality for the first time in 2019 and is committed to remaining carbon neutral on an annual basis by mitigating emissions, as set by its science-based targets, and purchasing verified carbon offsets for residual emissions from its operations, employee commuting and business travel. In addition, Moody’s will retroactively offset its GHG emissions from September 2000, when Moody’s became a public company, to December 2018. This will be completed by 2040 through the purchase of verified carbon offsets.
Moody's intends to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, consistent with its commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Business Ambition for 1.5°C.
Renewable energy
In 2019, Moody’s renewable energy comprised 11% of its total global electricity usage, which included 100% renewable electricity in its London, Frankfurt and Edinburgh offices. Beginning in 2020, Moody’s will be procuring 100% renewable electricity for its global operations by increasing its contracts with utility suppliers whose electricity originates from a renewable source where possible and purchasing unbundled renewable energy certificates.
Science-based targets
Moody’s targets for reducing its GHG emissions focus on three key commitments: 1) reduce absolute scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year, 2) reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel and energy related activities, business travel and employee commuting 15% by 2025 from a 2019 base year, and 3) 60% of its suppliers by spend covering purchased goods and services and capital goods to have science based targets by 2025.
Moody’s targets were validated this month by the Science Based Targets initiative, a collaboration between CDP, UNGC, World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), that is seeking to reduce corporate GHG emissions.
To learn more about Moody’s efforts and commitment to advance environmental sustainability in its global value chain, business offerings and communities, read the company’s 2019 CSR Report and visit Moody’s ESG & Climate Risk Hub.