Can your ESG report set you apart?

By Will Washington, Commercial Director at The Edwin Group

ESG (environmental, social and governance) is a collective term covering a broad range of criteria that MATs and schools can use to measure their impact on the environment, the communities they operate in and wider society.

It’s far wider than carbon emissions and recycling. ESG encapsulates everything from relationships with employees, suppliers and local communities, to leadership, succession planning and risk management.

With the news continually reporting on a range of ESG topics from climate change, energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis, to the Flexible Working Bill 2023, ESG reports are increasingly coming under the spotlight of parents, pupils, staff and peers.

What can you do to improve your results?

The Edwin Group is committed to our environmental, social and governance responsibilities and we are proud of the work we have done to progress our ESG strategy. We are determined to do all we can and have invested in many initiatives to support sustainable outcomes.

We are evaluated annually and are proud to have been awarded ‘ESG Excellent’ status again this year. We are keen to share our experience with you, to assist you on your ESG journey.

Here are some ideas that could be implemented in your school or MAT:

• Create an ESG committee – comprising of pupils who are keen to have an impact on environmental issues around the school.

• Nominate an ESG Champion for each class. This will help the ESG committee to roll out their ideas across the school.

• Introduce recycling points around the school to help pupils to recycle wherever possible.

• Review your energy and waste contracts to ensure you are paying the lowest prices, energy is coming from sustainable sources and any waste is being recycled where possible.

• Invest in staff wellbeing and offer mindfulness, menopause and rest workshops. See www.stillhuman.co.uk/workshops.

Last academic year, we teamed up with The Young People’s Trust for the Environment (YPTE) to launch our Eco Action Awards for Schools which recognised and encouraged action for sustainability among students. A huge number of schools participated in the scheme and we received a vast array of incredible ideas from the students including:

• Second hand clothes ‘swap shop’.

• School branded refillable water bottles.

• School composting.

• Establishing a school eco-club.

The winner received £2,000 which was used to create a Refill Station for the school.

So what’s next on The Edwin Group’s ESG journey?

We have set 2045 as our Net Zero date and are proud of what we’ve achieved so far:

• Launched a network of Environmental Champions across the business to promote best practice in waste disposal and energy efficient behaviours.

• Installed recycling points in all our offices.

• Introduced a greener driving campaign for our staff and consultants.

• Continued to introduce new learning and development programmes for our employees and supply staff.

• Expanded our mental health support for schools via our wellbeing company Still Human.

• Redesigned our benefits package to improve the support we offer our employees and supply staff.

• Working with our ESG consultancy firm to reduce waste and energy use across the business.

• Proud to be a carbon neutral company for the third year running - we invested in a hydroelectric power plant in Giresun, Turkey to offset our carbon emissions.

Our current goals are:

• Achieve 13% absolute reduction in emissions by 2025 from 2022 baseline levels.

• To reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 42% by 2030, as approved by the SBTi.

• Reduce all Green House Gas emissions by 94.2% by 2045.

Find out more about our ESG journey in our ESG Report 2023 or speak to a member of The Edwin Group team.

Will has spent his career in the education sector. The former Director of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Edwin Supply, and now Commercial Director, is also a Trustee at the national charity Engage in their Future, who support young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties (SEMH).