Our Commitment

Fathm is committed to playing a full and active part in helping protect the planet through the way we work, how we produce and consume, how we manage our resources, and through the example we can set for others. We are committed to addressing emissions associated with our work and actively working towards sustainability.  

We are committed to actively working towards sustainability through ongoing emissions reduction, and, from 2024, the use of carbon offsetting and capture where emissions cannot be fully eliminated, to achieve our goal of being carbon-neutral. Our climate goals support the global aims of a just transition and keeping temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.

We recognise that Fathm’s work necessitates some international staff travel and while our approach is to limit high-emissions travel wherever possible it is important that when it is necessary we do it in the least environmentally harmful way possible.

Our expectations of an active commitment to environmental responsibility extend beyond our own activities to all our direct suppliers. We expect all our direct suppliers to be striving towards achieving carbon-neutral status and strongly encourage our suppliers to ensure that their own supply chain shares this commitment. 

For ourselves, and our suppliers, a longer-term commitment to the goal of achieving net zero as soon as possible, and no later than 2030 in keeping with the Paris Agreement, is of fundamental importance.

This Environmental Policy aims to give recommendations and guidelines to reduce our carbon footprint. However, we are mindful that we have to balance the health and safety of employees travelling for meaningful work with the impact on the environment. Everything shall always be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Our Process

We recognise that working towards positive climate change takes time and have made a long-term commitment to this including the following steps:

1. Off-setting our estimated carbon footprint through the use of a recognised and reliable scheme from 2024

2. Developing the tools and processes to measure our carbon footprint as accurately as possible

3. Identifying means to reduce our carbon footprint

Our current actions are identified below and we will continue to develop these over time.

Actions on Staff Travel

• Fathm can substantially reduce its carbon footprint from travel by limiting overall staff travel for business and events.

• Fathm employees must take responsibility to weigh the purpose and outcomes of their planned air travel against its carbon emissions and travel should always be seen as the exception, rather than the rule.

• All travel must be booked using Fathm’s approved process to track emissions.

• When flying is necessary, staff should choose low-carbon routes and select low-carbon planes and airlines where possible.

• Air travel should be avoided for all journeys where a low-emission transport alternative (train, boat etc) will take 6 hours or less.

• Fathm employees should opt for low-carbon options for on-the-ground travel and accommodation (e.g. hotels with established environmental policies, and public transport).

Other Actions

• Fathm should use environmentally-conscious companies and adopt sustainable practices for its events.

• Employees should reduce waste, not just recycle. When working, staff should use reusable items.

• Fathm is a near-paperless organisation. Staff should only print documents if absolutely necessary and politely suggest an alternative option if asked by a partner, client or vendor to do so.

• Fathm will prioritise repair and reuse of equipment where possible, and if not possible prioritise the purchase of remanufactured/refurbished equipment instead of new. End-of-life equipment will be disposed of responsibly and recycled wherever this option is available.

• Fathm team members working from home are encouraged to ensure they use renewable energy suppliers.