Home » Environmental Policy

Environmental Policy

Our Environmental Policy

This statement sets out Unity Insights’ environmental strategy and how we seek to deliver against it.

We recognise our responsibility to help protect the planet. We are committed to minimising the impact our organisation has on the environment and supporting those who are working to improve global environmental sustainability.

We aim to have a carbon net zero impact and or result in environmental gain by 2030. This policy sets out ways in which we will achieve this.

 

Our Commitment:

  • Aim to continuously improve our environmental performance.
  • Minimise the consumption and wastage of natural resources as far as reasonably and economically practicable.
  • Ensure that consideration is given to purchasing environmentally sustainable products and services as well as considering service partners’ environmental credentials in the selection process.
  • Annually set additional non-emissions objectives and targets relating to our most significant environmental aspects (i.e. energy efficiency and waste management. We will measure our performance against these objectives and targets at least annually and publicly report on our progress.)
  • Provide information, instruction, and training to staff as necessary on the environmental impacts of the firm’s activities and on mitigating measures and initiatives to minimise these impacts.
  • Integrate environmental considerations into key business decisions.
  • Ensure the prevention of pollution.
  • Dispose of all waste according to the principles of the waste hierarchy.
  • Where appropriate, actively encourage our clients to adopt environmental and sustainability strategies.
  • Regularly monitor this Policy to ensure that it remains in line with legislative requirements.

 

Our environmental aims and targets

Unity Insights is aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. We are always looking for innovative approaches to minimise environmental impact.

We have built a carbon emissions calculator to quantify our current impact, which will be extended to enable modeling of the net effect of potential changes to policy and working practices. Our hybrid working model supports working from home, whilst the use of cloud storage facilitates paperless working.

 

Our expectations of our employees, suppliers and contractors are to:

  • Respect, embrace, and actively support the agenda for carbon net zero and environmental net gain outcomes across all our operations and activities.
  • Proactively act in ways to support environmental net gain and the climate emergency, raising awareness and recognising positive action.
  • Demonstrate commitment to managing, minimising, and mitigating the impacts from operations and activities.
  • Seek to minimise the environmental impact through environment and climate emergency conscious decision-making including choice of products, partners and suppliers.
  • Evaluate performance and transparently report on decisions, outcomes and actions; providing commentary and explanations holding ourselves to account.
  • Demonstrate compliance with all relevant legislation as a minimum, and where possible go beyond it.
  • Demonstrate commitment to improve continually and monitor the environmental performance, report openly and transparently to support greater recognition of the benefits of environmental change and ensure that outcomes do not create a detriment to any group with protected characteristics within our community.

 

Our people

Unity Insights aim to work on projects and with stakeholders that make a difference to society and the environment, and as such our people are regularly informed on environmental issues in their day-to-day work. In a recent evaluation for Brighton and Sussex Medical School and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, we examined the impact of using reusable versus single-use medical products. We were able to demonstrate not only the financial savings, but the wider economic savings based on the reduction in carbon emissions. By working with other companies in this way, Unity Insights hopes to make a positive impact on the environment individually and collaboratively.

Unity Insights holds an annual volunteering day. We aim to use this time to work with charities or on projects that have a wider impact on the environment.

Unity Insights is a predominantly remote working organisation, which reduces our contribution to travel on the roads. Any team days held have always considered car sharing, trains, and minibusses, in order to continue to minimise our contribution to C02 emissions.

We will reduce our waste generation in landfills by continuing to work paperless, donating relevant waste to charities, and recycling.

 

 

 

Last updated 17 February 2023