In light of the growing climate crisis, we all have a duty to operate more sustainably, reducing the environmental impact of our actions where possible. Quilter is committed to reducing the environmental intensity of its operations through a cycle of data analysis, action and review.
Welcome to Corporate Sustainability
Quilter’s climate reporting
Quilter is committed to transparent sustainability disclosures, and we publish a Group TCFD Report which provides detailed information about how we monitor our climate-related risks and opportunities for our operations and investment activities. In this report we also provide a detailed breakdown of our operational and financed emissions and the progress we are making towards our operational emissions target.
We are also signatories to the UN Global Compact and respond to the annual CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) questionnaire – providing our stakeholders with clear and transparent data on our climate impact.
Reducing our operational emissions
We have set a target to reduce our operational emissions (covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 80% by 2030. This target forms part of the long-term incentive plan for our executive directors.
Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024 were 69% lower than our 2020 baseline showing good progress towards our target. The main driver of this reduction was our smaller office footprint in response to changing workspace needs. In the future, we expect to keep reducing our emissions gradually year on year towards our goal.
Our focus for 2024 has been on improving the accuracy, reliability and consistency of our carbon footprint data. This has allowed us to better understand the most significant sources of our emissions, identify opportunities to reduce emissions and has laid the foundation for our Climate Transition Plan that will publish in 2025.
We also engaged our energy broker to provide an Energy Savings and Opportunities Scheme Report and Energy Audit to identify opportunities in our Southampton office to improve our energy efficiency and reduce consumption.
In 2025, we will be engaging extensively with our landlords and internal stakeholders to:
- improve the granularity and frequency of the data we receive for our carbon accounting;
- identify, track and monitor sustainability measures currently in place and projects planned for the future at each of our offices;
- increase the proportion of energy procured from renewable sources; and
- discuss and implement minimum sustainability standards for the buildings we occupy.
Engaging with suppliers to reduce emissions
In 2022, we started a project to help us understand and calculate our emissions from purchased goods and services, a type of emission we had not previously measured.
We furthered this work in 2023 by broadening our knowledge of our spend base, its carbon impact, and the potential for creating change through our spend. We have been able to strategically identify our suppliers based on importance and size of spend and we are now able to disclose the related emissions in our Group TCFD Report.
In 2025, we are looking to strengthen the relationship with these suppliers to learn about their sustainability journeys with the aim of influencing sustainable development through the allocation of our capital.
Offering a discount for re-usable cups
We want to create a culture of sustainability, where our colleagues can make environmentally-friendly decisions. One of the ways we are doing this is by encouraging colleagues in our Southampton and London offices to use reusable cups when purchasing hot drinks from the coffee bar, which is usually provided in a single-use cup.
In 2022, in conjunction with the International ‘No Disposable Cup Day’, we introduced a 10p discount for colleagues who used a re-usable cup and started tracking the uptake of this to see how receptive and willing to change our colleagues were.
In 2023, we increased the discount to 25p to match high street competitors. Since this change, we have seen engagement increase to an estimated 13%, up from 6% in the previous year.
This initiative is aimed at reducing our waste and the emissions associated with the waste we produce as a business. We continue to offer this and encourage colleagues make use of this benefit.
Responsible investment
Our Affluent and High Net Worth segments are currently producing Climate Action Plans for the investments we manage on behalf of our clients. Our plans will set out key milestones and the actions we will be taking to reduce the climate impact of our investments.
For more information about how we approach Responsible Investment at Quilter, please visit: