ILPA and Sustainability
ILPA continues to be in solidarity with refugees, migrants, and people displaced by climate change. As the detrimental impacts of the climate crisis continue to make many parts of the world inhospitable, environmental deterioration of homelands often affects those with the least amount of resources to adapt to climate change. ILPA recognises that indigenous and marginalised communities, small-scale farmers and those living in poverty are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis which forcibly displaces them and then denies them the right to safely migrate and seek refuge.
We recognise that the climate crisis is predicated on the inequality faced by the Global South, resulting in the displacement of entire communities as sea levels rise and drought intensifies. Recent studies indicate that 267 million people worldwide reside in areas less than two metres above sea level, and that millions were displaced from their homes in 2023 following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023, and then in Afghanistan and Pakistan the following month. Yet the UK’s migration and asylum policies overlook the rights of climate refugees and impose barriers to employment and education for those seeking refuge in the UK. Though Afghanistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, the Taliban’s seizure of the country in 2021 meant that they were excluded from global climate change talks and not represented at the COP28 summit held in 2023. At the same time, many vulnerable Afghans at risk of human rights breaches are still finding it incredibly difficult to benefit from the resettlement schemes put in place to facilitate their safe travel to the UK. Ultimately, these two forms of injustice are interconnected. Effective responses to climate-induced migration require comprehensive and equitable policies that protect the rights of migrants, ensure their safety, and address the root causes of displacement, including climate change.
At ILPA, we believe that climate justice involves advocating for policies that recognise and address the intersection of climate change and migration, akin to the work ILPA prioritises for migrants requiring protection for non-climate related reasons. After all, there needs to be migrant justice in order to secure climate justice.
Alongside our advocacy work, ILPA is also committed to becoming a zero carbon organisation. We have conducted a review of our emissions and as far as possible have reduced them in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
We have signed the SME Climate Commitment, which pledges us to:
- halve our greenhouse gas emissions before 2030
- achieve net zero emissions before 2050
- disclose progress on a yearly basis.
Scopes 1 and 2
In early 2023 we moved from a large, draughty office that used standard electricity and gas tariffs, to a smaller, well-insulated office. Our new landlord (Ethical Property) sources electricity and gas from 100Green, which supplies 100% green gas and renewable electricity.
| Emissions | Types | What do we use? |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Energy for heating | 3,804 kwh per annum (based upon landlord’s estimates) |
| Electricity | 1,898 kwh per annum | |
| Energy for cooling | No air conditioning | |
| Energy to fuel company cars | No company cars | |
| Scope 2 | Production of energy | 100% green gas |
| 100% renewable electricity |
At our previous office, our Scope 1 emissions totalled 2 tCO2e per annum and our Scope 2 emissions 1.74 tCO2e. By switching to a 100% green tariff we have virtually eliminated our scope 1 and 2 emissions and saved 3.74 tCO2e.
Scope 3
We undertook an inventory of scope 3 emissions (i.e. the emissions generated by our suppliers) using the Greenhouse Gas Value Chain Standard categories. This table summarises our review and has formed the basis for our action plan.
| Emissions | Types? | What do we use? |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 3 (upstream) | Employee commuting | Energy use is minimal. As our offices are in central London, staff commute on public transport or bikes. Furthermore, our hybrid working policy means that the number of journey days has decreased by 80%. |
| Fuel & energy not included in Scopes 1 & 2 | The most obvious and significant use under this category is the use of fuel and energy during home working. We have not been able to quantify this yet. | |
| transport & distribution | We have become a digital-only publisher and training provider, so there are no longer energy costs associated with transport & distribution. | |
| Purchased goods & services | We have done a spend data analysis of our most recent profit and loss statement. Our top three spend areas are IT (hardware, software and support); professional services; and training. We are prioritising the identification of emissions from these. IT: We have de-commissioned our in-house server and moved our IT to the cloud. We have not been able to benchmark the reduction but know that Accenture estimates that there is an average 84% emission saving. Whether this is realised depends upon the Cloud services used. So we have researched our main suppliers’ zero carbon policies to understand the emissions they generate. Broadly their reduction plans are inline with SBTi near- and long-term targets: Microsoft: committed to carbon negativity by 2030. Salesforce: committed to 50% emission reduction by 2030 and near zero by 2040. Zoom: committed to 100% renewable energy in direct operations (scopes 1 & 2) by 2030. But emissions have increased over the last 3 years. Intuit: carbon neutral since 2015 & has a climate positive goal for 2030. Dell (hardware): committed to 50% reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and 100% for scopes 1-3 by 2050. Professional services: we are engaging with our suppliers about their net zero plans. Training: most of our training is now online however when we do live events, we use Friends Meeting House, which has already taken steps to reduce its carbon footprint and has a plan for further reductions. | |
| Business travel | Energy use is minimal (5-6 trips per year) and most of the trips are by public transport. We estimate 0.1 tCO2e. Nonetheless we plan to develop a travel policy that discourages airline travel. We generally do not travel by air for business. | |
| Waste from operations | Our landlord runs a waste scheme that involves segregating and clearly labelling bins. It reports on waste being diverted from landfill | |
| Scope 3 (downstream) | Investments | Our pension scheme, despite being labelled a “sustainable fund”, includes investments in oil companies (see our below Action Plan for how we plan to address this). |
Action plan
We have significantly reduced our footprint since 2022. However, there are areas we need to do more work on. These are summarised below:
| Emissions | Types | What further steps are we planning? |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 3 | Fuel & energy not included in Scopes 1 & 2 | We will be reviewing home working emissions & how best to support staff to reduce these |
| Purchased goods & services | Where we lack information about suppliers’ emissions, we will also ask them about their plans. We will also develop a sustainable procurement policy to ensure emissions become a selection criteria | |
| Business travel | We will formalise our low carbon travel policy. | |
| Investments | We will consult with staff about moving to a more environmentally responsible pension provider. We will also review the policies of the financial institutions that hold our reserves. |
Reporting
The activities above will form part of our 2024-25 strategic plan.
Given that our emissions are relatively low and, in some key areas, are currently difficult to quantify, we will not be seeking third-party verification. However, going forward, we will be reporting on our carbon status and activities in our Annual Report to members and the Trustee Annual Report lodged with the Charity Commission.
March 2024