John Sisk & Son delivers innovative construction and engineering works across Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe. With a 160 year history spanning three centuries, John Sisk & Son operates across key sectors and is an Irish family owned business. Sisk has a number of key projects throughout Europe for major pharmaceutical, retail and technology clients.
When it comes to sustainability, protecting the welfare of future generations is a key commitment for John Sisk & Son.
Challenge
In 2020, John Sisk & Son launched its 2030 sustainability roadmap, setting an ambitious target to become carbon neutral by the end of the decade. To achieve this goal, the company must work closely with its upstream and downstream supply chain partners.
John Sisk & Son assesses its supply chain before bringing them onboard, ensuring they are fully aligned with its sustainability objectives. One of the biggest challenges has been to fully understand where its supply chain currently stands in its sustainability journey, in order to provide suppliers with the necessary tools to upskill and contribute to achieving Sisk’s carbon footprint objectives.
“We can’t achieve our objectives without our supply chain coming on that journey with us”, explains Sarah-Jane Davies, Head of Sustainability UK. “We need a knowledgeable supply chain who understand sustainability and how they can support Sisk to deliver our sustainability ambitions as well as their own”.
Process
As a member of the Achilles Carbon Reduce Scheme, John Sisk & Son has been able to measure, manage, and verify its carbon footprint.
The Carbon Reduce Programme is the UK’s only Greenhouse Gas (GHG) certification scheme, helping organisations measure, manage and report their carbon footprint accurately. This enables John Sisk & Son to collect the right data to help inform its journey towards carbon neutrality, as well as providing external validation against international standards, such as ISO 14064-1. With a suite of tools at its disposal, the company has been able to rely on a centralised source of carbon emissions data, helping it better understand the practical steps needed to achieve both its and its supplier’s sustainability goals.
As Sarah-Jane Davies explained, “Back in 2017, we were inputting data into a spreadsheet manually and carrying out internal validation. With the help of external experts, were able to focus on validating the mandatory data required for reporting, and eventually have gone on to expand this to include our Scope 3 data. The external validation and certification also mean we can stand by our efforts and prove we are reducing our carbon footprint”.
Results
John Sisk & Son reduces its absolute carbon emissions and achieves carbon zero certification
The Carbon Reduce programme helps John Sisk & Son meet international standards of accreditation when it comes to reporting on its carbon footprint. In 2021, John Sisk & Son was accredited as carbon neutral through measuring, managing and offsetting its unavoidable emissions – an accreditation only eligible for businesses meeting ISO 14064-1. As it strives towards carbon neutrality without offsetting by 2030, the data collection, validation and reporting solutions offered by Achilles will continue to play an important role.
Accurate and confident carbon reporting
According to John Sisk & Son, having external validation of its carbon footprint is crucial when reporting to clients and external stakeholders. This validation has reduced the internal resources needed for reporting and enabled analysis of the data to identify the most significant areas of its carbon footprint, as well as facilitating the review of progress on a year-on-year basis.
Looking ahead becoming carbon neutral without offsetting by 2030
Becoming a carbon-neutral business without offsetting by 2030 is the next step in John Sisk & Son’s sustainability journey. As part of this goal, John Sisk & Son must report on its carbon footprint, including scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Thanks to the Carbon Reduce Programme, John Sisk & Son was able to identify the biggest contributor to its scope 3 emissions as a construction company. This not only allows John Sisk & Son to focus on engaging and working closely with its supply chain, but also makes an impact in reducing their total carbon footprint.
John Sisk & Son goes above and beyond to make an impact on its carbon footprint as a business. Sisk´s involvement with the Achilles Carbon Reduce Programme has enabled them to assess and analyse its carbon footprint more effectively. This, in turn, has allowed them to focus on the areas for which they hold direct responsibility in terms of reducing its carbon footprint, as well as identifying the most significant contributors to its stakeholders´ carbon footprints.