We are looking to develop a number of initiatives to empower our employees to be part of the journey we are embarking on. This is ‘our challenge’. This means it is up to each and every person at Kent to play their part and get involved. We will be launching a process to capture all the great work that already goes on across the Kent world and a way for everyone to share their achievements, ideas and suggestions. We will create grassroots movements within our offices and projects, taking our global strategy and creating local targets which support our aims.

We will communicate regularly about our progress and the initiatives we are undertaking. We will be transparent about any issues we are facing and will not try to rose tint the reality of what we have achieved. We believe that trust comes from true transparency.

Kent are sending a clear message around our commitment to sustainability by signing up to the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The UNGC calls on companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption and take actions that advance societal goals. By signing up to the UNGC we are agreeing to disclose our progress towards this annually. The UNGC offers over 70 local networks where Kent can get involved to address what responsible business means within different national, cultural and language contexts and benefit from shared learning from businesses on a similar journey.

Our sustainability strategy has been designed to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The SDG’s provide a powerful aspiration for improving our world, understanding where we collectively need to go and how we get there. Fulfilling these ambitions will take an unprecedented effort by all sectors of society. Businesses have to play a very important role in this process and Kent are standing up and embracing that challenge.

Where they are available we will be aligning our approach to recognised, credible initiatives. For example, our Net Zero target will be achieved by following the criteria set by the Science Based Targets Initiative Net Zero Standard.

By the end of 2022 we will have established clear roadmaps that detail the actions required to deliver our targets. We are designing a sustainability dashboard that will highlight our progress towards targets. The sustainability council will be monitoring progress on a continual basis.

We will publish our progress on an ongoing basis on our website and when big milestones are reached, on our social media channels. In 2023, we plan to publish our first sustainability report which will discuss in detail our approach, our targets and the progress being made.

The WWF defines NBS as “Ecosystem conservation, management and/or restoration interventions intentionally planned to deliver measurable positive climate adaptation and /or mitigation benefits that have human development and biodiversity co-benefits managing anticipated climate risks to nature that can undermine their long-term effectiveness.”

We are in the process of signing up for the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), sending a clear signal of our commitment towards sustainability. Signing up for the UNGC is a public declaration that we are serious about sustainability.

Our strategy has been designed with transparency and impact at its heart. Committing us to real action that will create meaningful change for our stakeholders. Our strategy is ambitious and commits us to a suite of over 30 sustainability targets, with a number of targets supporting each of our focus areas.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 are a way of categorising the different kinds of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions a company creates in its own operations, and in its wider value chain.

Scope 1 emissions — The GHG emissions from sources that an organisation owns or controls directly, for example from burning fuel in our fleet of vehicles (if they’re not electrically-powered).

Scope 2 emissions — These are the emissions that a company causes indirectly when the energy it purchases and uses is produced, for example when the electricity or energy it buys for heating and cooling buildings, is being produced on its behalf.

Scope 3 emissions — Now here’s where it gets tricky. In this category are all the emissions associated, not with the company itself, but that the organisation is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. For example, from buying products from its suppliers, and from its products when customers use them. Emissions-wise, Scope 3 is nearly always the big one.

Sustainability. by Kent has been designed to support and help deliver the overall purpose of the business. It isn’t about buzzwords or PR. It’s about creating real change which enables Kent to be successful now and into the future, ensuring the longevity of our business. Our strategy speaks to our recognition that we can be a force for good and that we can use our sphere of influence to influence others. We understand the issues at play and know we have a responsibility to take action and simply do the right thing.

We are busy collating our GHG emissions for 2022 which will be used as a baseline for our reduction efforts. Data was collected in 2021 with the aim of creating a baseline for Kent. However, upon review of the data, it was clear that this would not be a true representation of our emissions due to the impact of the covid pandemic and the impact of the integration of the legacy companies that made up Kent.

From the data we have collated so far, we do have a good indication of what the main sources of our emissions are:

• Fuel used in company vehicles

• Fuel used in plant and equipment

• Electricity and natural gas usage

Put simply, net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away.

In 2015, the 193 countries that make up the United Nations (UN) agreed to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The historic agenda lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets for dignity, peace, and prosperity for the planet and humankind, to be completed by the year 2030. The agenda targets multiple areas for action, such as poverty and sanitation, and plans to build up local economies while addressing people's social needs. More information on the SDG’s can be found here.

We have identified the SDG’s we feel we have the sphere of influence to impact and have used these in the process of identifying out areas of focus. Our strategy supports 10 of the 17 SDG’s:

3 – Good health, 4 – Quality education, 5 – Gender equality, 7 – Affordable and clean energy, 8 – Decent work and economic growth, 10 – Reduced inequalities, 12- Responsible consumption and production, 13 – Climate action, 16 – Peace, Justice and strong institutions, 17 – Partnerships for the goals.

The next step on our journey is to develop detailed roadmaps, including clear timescales, setting out the actions required to deliver our targets. Roadmaps for each of the focus areas will be in place by the end of 2022.

A sunshine day is a day where our employees will be given paid leave to support a local cause such as a beach clean up or undertaking stem activities at a local school.

Single use plastics are items made of plastic that are used once and thrown away such as a plastic stirrer, plastic food packaging and plastic straws. Items that are used more than once, are not deemed as single use, for example, milk bottles and cleaning products.

Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) is a relatively new term used by the financial and investment community, to help assess a company's risk management of material environmental, social and governance exposures.

Although there are clear linkages, the umbrella of Sustainability addresses a wider stakeholder scope, including those addressed by ESG factors.

Our low carbon and renewable market focuses on: Integrated gas & LNG, offshore wind, hydrogen, decarbonisation / emissions reduction, carbon capture, utilization & storage, energy storage, waste to energy & fuels, electrical network and distribution and biofuels.

We have been involved in Hydrogen projects in various forms over the last 50 years, and now have an increasing presence in both Blue and Green hydrogen. We’re involved in c.70% of the UK’s offshore wind farms, including delivery of 11 floating wind projects, 11GW of capacity, 20 offshore substations, and over 1500 structures. We carried out the EPC of the world’s first commercial scale CCUS project on a power plant (Boundary Dam, Canada), we are currently active on the CCUS project on HyNet in the UK and also carrying out the FEED on V Net Zero project in the UK which is aiming to transport and sequester 12million tonnes of captured CO2 per annum.

We don’t have any immediate plans to adopt ISO 50001. Energy management will form a key aspect of our carbon reduction strategy however at the moment we do not feel ISO certification would bring additional value. We feel the money which would be spent on this could be put to better use creating change within the business. It may be that in the future this may change if we feel adopting the standard would bring additional benefit to the business.

A quick google search will show that there are lots of carbon calculators out there, but they all vary in their level of complexity and their focus. We plan to develop a suite of digital tools that allow us to monitor and measure the carbon handprint of our projects and designs. The next step is to define what those tools are. A carbon calculator may be one, but we need to review the market to establish which tools will add value for us to develop and which tools are already out there and fit for purpose that we can tap into.

We are currently working on a template for our roadmaps so there is a familiar feel across all the focus areas. Each roadmap will give an overview of why this area is important to the business and why we have chosen the targets we have. It will then provide detail of the actions required to deliver each target, by when and why. Additional milestones may be detailed for certain targets such as our commitment to net zero, ensuring action is taken now, and not put on the back burner until a year or so before it is due.

We have committed to being net zero across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2040. To do this we will follow the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) Net Zero standard. Unfortunately, we cannot apply to SBTi for approval for our target as we work in the oil and gas services sector and SBTi will currently not accept targets from anyone in our sector. However, we can align to their requirements, ensuring the credibility of our approach. The standard has a variety of requirements including the need for a near term target, between 5-10 years, aligned to a 1.5oc temperature change trajectory. This detail will all be required in our roadmap for our Tackling Climate Change From Within focus area.

We have recently launched our new Waste Management Procedure which requires that every effort should be made towards minimising waste generation at source by following the waste control hierarchy. This philosophy discourages the creation of waste and emphasises reuse and recycling. Where materials can be recycled they should be separated and placed into suitable containers provided.

As part of our sustainability strategy, we have committed to establishing a waste baseline so that we can establish reduction targets going forward. We have also committed to eliminating single-use plastics from operations.

Energy efficiency will form a crucial part of our carbon reduction efforts. Our Tackling Climate Change From Within roadmap will detail the energy efficiency measures we plan to adopt. This will be in place by the end of 2022 with actions beginning in early 2023.