Our operational emissions

Reducing the carbon footprint of our own operations is a key part of our sustainability strategy. We’re working towards an ambitious set of commitments to change the way we operate as a business and help accelerate our plans to tackle climate change.

Our operational climate pledges

Our operations:
- Achieve net zero carbon operations by 2030 and reduce our direct carbon emissions by at least 75%.
- Maintain travel emissions below 50% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
- Reduce our total energy consumption by 50% by 2030.
- 100% renewable energy supply achieved.
- Reduce our operational waste by 80% by 2025.
- Reduce water consumption by 40% by 2030.

We will achieve net zero carbon operations by 2030
We plan to reduce our direct carbon emissions (known as Scope 1 and 2 emissions) by at least 75%.

We will reduce our total energy consumption by 50% by 2030
While we already use 100% renewable electricity, we still need to reduce the amount of power we consume overall to support the UK in meeting an increasing demand for renewable energy.

We will maintain travel emissions below 50% of pre-COVID-19 levels
We want to embed the reduced levels of commuting and business travel emissions we saw during the pandemic – and support our colleagues to switch to low carbon modes of transport.

All the above are compared to 2018/19 levels.

We also have broader environmental ambitions for our own operations, which focus on reducing waste and improving water efficiency. These include:

We will reduce our operational waste by 80% by 2025, from a 2014/15 baseline

We will reduce water consumption by 40% by 2030, from a 2009 baseline

Our progress so far

We're making good progress against our targets. We’ve reduced our direct carbon emissions by 36% and our energy consumption is down 25.5% compared to our 2018/19 baselines.

We’ve already exceeded our targets for travel emissions and water consumption, having reduced our emissions by 65.7% and 50.3% respectively.

We're also on track with our operational waste target, having already reduced our overall waste by 72.2%.

Net zero carbon operations by 2030
Progress bar shows 36% reduction achieved so far

Reduce our total energy consumption by 50% by 2030
Progress bar shows 25.5% reduction achieved so far

Maintain travel carbon emissions below 50% of pre-COVID-19 levels
Progress bar shows 65.7% reduction achieved, well over target

Reduce water consumption by 40% by 2030
Progress bar shows 50.3% reduction achieved, well over target

Reduce our operational waste by 80% by 2025
Progress bar shows 72.2% reduction achieved, close to target

Achieving our goals won’t be easy, and we will need to invest in our buildings over the next decade. We will continue expanding our use of energy efficient technology, including LED lighting and improved building controls. We will remove all use of natural gas from our estate, replacing gas boilers with low carbon heating technologies and create more sustainable branches in communities across the UK.

Additional information on all our climate pledges and our progress to date can be found in our 2021 Climate Report.

Download our 2022 environmental emissions report

Our work in action

Our partnerships

Many of the technologies we will need to achieve our operational emissions pledges are new, so we will work closely with our partners and supply chain to innovate and accelerate progress. We have built a strong network of like-minded partners to help us work towards our operational emissions goals.

We are also members of the UK Green Buildings Council and have recently renewed our commitment to the World Green Building Council Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, which includes the new embodied carbon reduction requirement for new builds and major refurbishments by 2030.

This renewed commitment, along with those we’ve already made by joining The Climate Group’s campaigns on renewable electricity (RE100), energy productivity (EP100) and electric vehicles (EV100), underpins our climate pledges.

Logos for the UK Green Buildings Council; World Green Building Council; and the Climate Group's EP100, EV100 and RE100.

Our supply chain

We recognise the contribution that our supply chain has on our overall carbon emissions. We are committed to engaging our suppliers, working collaboratively to tackle climate change and accelerate our own transition to net zero. Working with our key suppliers, we will engage with them to:

Ensure that tackling climate change is embedded within the strategy and governance of their organisation.
Understand their carbon emissions generated in the provision of goods and services delivered to LBG and ensure they have plans in place to reduce them.
Collaborate with us to help us reduce our environmental impacts.
Understand and mitigate the risks that climate change poses to their business.
Understand the ethical and sustainability-related practices of their supply chain in order to either collaborate on best practice or offer support on improvements where appropriate.

The Emerald Standard

In 2022, we started on the next part of our journey with suppliers as we launched the Lloyds Banking Group Emerald Standard. The Emerald Standard has four elements that we’re asking our key suppliers to work towards:

Declaring a public commitment to net zero, with an ambition to reach net zero by 2050 with interim targets by 2030 or sooner.
Using science-aligned targets so that their emission reductions are credible.
Demonstrating leadership in climate change via public CDP disclosure.
Disclosing broader ESG performance via EcoVadis.

We’re at the beginning of this journey; we’ll support our suppliers with the Emerald Standard and review their progress over the next year. We won’t ask our suppliers to do anything that we’re not doing ourselves, and the Emerald Standard is just one of the ways we’re working in partnership with our supply chain to help drive progress towards a lower carbon future.

Reducing our suppliers' emissions is a key piece of the puzzle in our overall sustainability strategy. It's not just about meeting the ambitious commitments we have set for ourselves, but changing the way we operate as a business in order to tackle climate change.

Find out more about sustainability at Lloyds Banking Group