Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
POhWER

Call us on 0300 456 2370(charged at your standard network rate)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
Call us Easy Read Accessibility Donate
  • Twitter
Menu
  • Home
  • Our Services
    • Our services
    • NHS Complaints Advocacy
    • Independent Mental Health Advocacy
    • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy
    • Community Advocacy
    • Care Act Advocacy
    • Secure Services Advocacy
    • Cross Regulatory Lay Advocacy Service
    • Help Hub
    • HertsHelp
  • In your area
    • Central and East of England
    • East Midlands
    • London
    • Southern England
    • South West England
    • West Midlands
    • Secure Services
  • Resources
    • What is advocacy
    • Human Rights in everyday life
    • Human Rights VoxPops
    • Research Studies
    • Keeping Yourself Safe Online
    • Podcasts
    • Blogs
    • Sign Language Videos
  • Work with us
    • Current vacancies
  • Get involved
    • Donate
    • Campaign with us
    • Shop and donate
    • Fundraise
    • Events and Challenges
    • Play 4 POhWER
    • Volunteer
    • Leave a gift in your Will
    • Become a Corporate Partner
  • Online Shop
  • About us
    • Our Strategy
    • Who we are
    • Working in partnership
    • Our Impact
    • Reports and accounts
    • Social Value
    • Our Carbon Net Zero Strategy and Plan 2021-2030
    • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy 2022-2025
    • Our Gender Pay Gap
    • Meet the team
    • News
    • Stories
    • YouTube Channel
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • Make a referral
    • Media Office
    • Tell us what you think about our services
    • Complaints about POhWER
    • Promises when you contact us
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  1. About us

Our Carbon Net Zero Strategy and Plan 2021-2030

We are committed to taking responsibility for reducing our carbon footprint as a charity through a targeted action plan for 2021-2030. As the earth’s temperature rises and our environment is under threat we will positively commit to reducing our emissions to net zero before 2025.

Strategic Principles

Our collective approach to achieving net zero is underpinned by seven principles:

Principle

Actions

1. Well maintained buildings and facilities

Building icon

Undertake an environmental building survey for each office

Reduce heat loss by completing basic maintenance and ensuring the building is wind and watertight. Maintain the building through reporting repairs to landlords to prevent water from entering the building and warm air escaping. Ensure any broken windowpanes are repaired/replaced and make sure opening windows shut tightly.

Only use heating where staff are attending offices. Where heating is operated, restrict temperature to balance comfort and climate emission footprint. Encourage employees to wear layers during colder periods.

Avoid leasing offices which include central air conditioning or heating units. Turn lights off when not in use.

2. Buy renewable energy and promote virtual working

Renewable energy icon

Promote use of renewable electricity and carbon offset gas in POhWER’s offices. Measure and encourage workforce to adopt renewable/carbon-offset energy at home offices.

Whilst this does not reduce the energy POhWER uses, it means it comes from a cleaner source.

Encourage use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams to avoid unnecessary travel to face-to-face meetings.

3. Recycle, Re-use and Repair

Recycle icon

Work with neighbouring businesses exchange goods and services.

Buy second-hand furniture and office fittings where possible. Re-cycle mobile phones and laptops or donate them for re-use to extend life and reduce consumption. Repair equipment before considering disposal or replacement.

4. Promoting public transport, walking & cycling

cycling icon

Encourage employee bicycle usage through the Bike to Work scheme. Where possible encourage staff to travel between meetings on foot or bicycle and support time allotted to achieve this.

Only allow air travel if no viable public transport options exist.

Encourage use of public transport and car sharing.

Incentivise use of bicycle, electric or hybrid cars within expense reimbursement policies.

5. Reduce Waste and Consumption

Trash can icon

Waste less electricity, waste less gas/oil, tackle any food waste, reduce leaks and wasting water, and avoid unnecessary purchases. We will analyse our waste and seek to reduce waste to landfill.

Recycle food waste and dry goods in our office where local authority allows.

Work with our supply chain partners to reduce emissions through charity expenditure and favour suppliers who share our commitment to reducing carbon emissions. We will use our purchasing power to influence positive environmental policies of our supply chain.

6. Electricity not Oil

Light bulb icon

‘Decarbonise’ our heating, where possible by moving to electric heating and using electricity that comes from 100% renewable sources. We will move away from burning oil and gas to heat our buildings, which contributes greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere; alternatives include heat pumps, pew heaters, and infrared panel heaters and chandeliers.

7. Offsetting

Renewable electricity icon

Once we have made real reductions in our carbon footprint, POhWER will offset the small remaining amount through Climate Stewards or other reputable schemes to become ‘net zero’ from 2025 or earlier should a local partner or commissioner wish to accelerate our net zero plan.

Continue to monitor our remaining carbon footprint in the context of new green technologies and continue to promote the use of renewable or carbon offset energy.

Measuring POhWER’s carbon footprint

POhWER has undertaken an independent carbon footprint analysis using Carbon 360, a collaborative, web-based carbon measurement tool designed specifically for charities. This has provided a baseline measurement of our current charity carbon footprint:

A chart showing POhWERs carbon footprint analysis for 2021. Energy emissions for head office is 0.7%, work from home emissions is 35%, travel emissions is 60.3%, food emissions is 0.2%, expenditure emissions is 3.6%, waste and water is 0.2%.

* ‘Expenditure’ includes emissions generated by our supply chain.

Targets to achieve net zero

We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and emissions to achieve a net zero position before 2025. We are working through policy changes, incentive plans for staff and investments to help us to reduce and neutralise our impact on the environment. Our approach will be to spend the next four years optimising, improving and changing behaviours and mind-sets through our charitable work. From 2025 we will adopt a full offsetting policy-driven investment which will reduce any remaining footprint to net zero.

Our extensive work to reduce our climate carbon footprint to date between 2018 and 2021 has resulted in a lower than average starting point (1.14 tCO2 per capita). POhWER’s charity average is significantly lower than the national UK average per person (5.8), global average (4.8) and US average per person (17).

Should a funder or partner want to accelerate carbon offsetting we would welcome a conversation to share investment together in offsetting programmes to achieve our target at an earlier date.

Measure 2021
Current Position
2022-2023 2023-2025 2025-2030
Average carbon footprint per employee 1.14 tCO2 0.92 tCO2 0.76 tCO2 Net Zero*
Offices using carbon offset gas 0% 25% 50% 75%*
Offices using renewable electricity 0% 25% 50% 75%*
% home-based workers staff using carbon offset gas 25.8% 30% 35% 50%*
% home-based workers staff using renewable electricity 32.6% 35% 40% 50%*
Energy Emissions
(Head Office)
3.42 tCO2 3 tCO2 2.8 tCO2 Net Zero*
Travel Emissions 292.16 tCO2 270 tCO2 225 tCO2 Net Zero*
Work from Home Emissions 169.46 tCO2 150 tCO2 140 tCO2 Net Zero*
Food Emissions 1.08 tCO2 1 tCO2 1 tCO2 Net Zero*
Expenditure supply chain emissions 17.41 tCO2 15 tCO2 13 tCO2 Net Zero*
Waste Emissions 1.08 tCO2 1 tCO2 1 tCO2 Net Zero*
Total Charity Emissions 484.62 tCO2 440 tCO2 382 tCO2 Net Zero*

*Once CO2 emissions have been reduced as far as possible the remaining emissions will be offset to achieve Net Zero

Reporting & Tracking

POhWER will measure and analyse its carbon footprint twice per annum using Carbon 360 and a staff and volunteer survey to measure consumption at individual level by our home workers. The results will be reported at Executive and Board level. This ensures high-level leadership and that we will continue to progress against our net zero plan and adjust our actions should the plan not be delivering against strategic objectives or targets.

Our baseline emissions reading was first taken in October 2021 and will be updated every 6 months which will include commentary as to why the deviation from baseline report occurred and how it occurred.

We will also use the Carbon 360 tool to measure the environmental impact of each new contract or project.

Carbon Reduction Projects & Certification Schemes

We will pursue carbon reducing changes in our workplace and explore adoption of environmental management measures such as certification schemes like ISO14001 or PAS 2060, signing up to SBTI or other specific measures.

As the majority of our emissions arise from travel, we seek to engage in proactive discussions with our partners to eliminate unnecessary travel arising from POhWER’s charitable work. We commit to further investing in digital technology measures to promote virtual working and home-based working wherever possible. Promoting low/zero carbon travel such as walking, bicycles, electric cars will be our near-term priority.

POhWER achieved the Carbon Charter - Bronze in March 2022

 Carbon Charter - Bronze Logo

Published: 8th November, 2021

Updated: 11th January, 2023

Author: Sukhwinder Kaur

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Independent Advocate

    Independent Advocate

    Home working with travel around London

  • Secure & Complex Services Advocate (Part-time)

    Secure & Complex Services Advocate (Part-time)

    Home working with travel across Kilbirnie/Motherwell area of Glasgow.

  • Independent Advocate

    Independent Advocate

    Home working with travel around London

  • Independent Advocate

    Independent Advocate

    Home working with travel around London

Most read

  • NHS Complaints Advocacy

    NHS Complaints Advocacy

    NHS Complaints Advocacy supports people who are thinking about making a complaint about treatment funded by the NHS

  • Make a referral

    Make a referral

    You can make a referral to POhWER services by completing one of the forms on this page or by calling 0300 456 2370

  • Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)

    Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)

    Independent Mental Health Advocacy supports people to understand and exercise their rights under the Mental Health Act

  • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)

    Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)

    Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy supports people who are not able to make certain decisions about their lives for themselves

  • London

    We provide services across London, helping people to get their voices heard. Here you can find our more about the services we provide.

  • Central and East of England

    POhWER provides services across five local authority areas in Central and East of England, helping people to get their voices heard.

  • Feedback

    Feedback

    Tell us what you think about our services. POhWER takes feedback seriously and we use it as part of our commitment to continually improving our services.

  • Community Advocacy

    Community Advocacy

    Community Advocacy is for people who need support to deal with an issue they are facing and want help to speak up for themselves or be listened to.

  • Care Act Advocacy

    Care Act Advocacy

    Care Act advocates support people who need support to be involved in decisions their local council is making about their care and support

  • Southern England

    POhWER provides services across four local authority areas in Southern England, helping people to get their voices heard

Tag cloud

advocacy advocate bedfordshire hertfordshire imca IMHA independent Independent Mental Health Act London MHA NHS Complaints POhWER rights secure services support West Midlands

Latest tweet

Keep in touch

Interested in everything POhWER? Sign up to our mailing list to find out more about POhWER’s great work, latest news, events and campaigns. Just complete your details below and click sign up.

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address (e.g. [email protected])
  • Privacy, Data Protection & Your Personal Information
  • Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
  • Feedback
  • Standard Purchasing Terms and Conditions
  • Delivery and Returns

Connect with us

Want to get the most up-to-date information and news? Follow us on twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive the latest updates about what is happening across POhWER.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Helplines Partnership Member logo Advocacy QPM Award logo  Disability Confident Employer Logo    We are a Living Wage Employer Logo Mindful Employer Logo Investors in People - Silver Award LogoISO 9001 Quality Management Certificate Badge with UKAS AccreditationAdvice Quality Standard (AQS) LogoRegistered with the Fundraising Regulator Logo  Carbon Charter - Bronze LogoCharity Today Awards Winner 2021-2022 logo Ally flag

Copyright © 2016 | POhWER is a registered charity in England & Wales (1061543), Scotland (SC048858).
Registered company limited by guarantee, England & Wales (03323040).
Registered office: Hertlands House, Primett Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 3EE

Manage Cookie Preferences