At Surewise, we recognise the urgent need to address climate change and reduce our environmental impact. As a responsible business, we are committed to implementing meaningful and measurable actions that contribute to a low-carbon future. Our Carbon Reduction Plan outlines the strategies and initiatives we’ve adopted to minimise our carbon footprint, improve sustainability across our operations, and support the UK’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2045.
This plan reflects our ongoing dedication to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement as we work towards a more sustainable future for our customers, our community, and the planet.
Please find our plan below. A downloadable version can be found at the bottom of the page.
Meeting the Reporting Requirements
This Carbon Reduction Plan complies with PPN 06/21, as published by the Cabinet Office in June 2021. This document will be reviewed and updated annually in accordance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
Baseline Carbon Emissions
| Baseline year: 2024 |
| Additional details relating to the baseline emissions calculations. Sure Wise Limited is a private limited SME company. While we are not obligated to report our emissions under the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations, we are committed to environmental responsibility. To demonstrate this commitment, we began recording our emissions in 2024, which serves as our baseline for measuring and improving our environmental impact. |
| Our total baseline emissions for 2024 are 88,755 kg CO2 e. |
2024 Carbon Emissions Overview
To ensure transparency and a comprehensive assessment of our environmental impact, we are recording emissions data associated with our office at Unit 3, Hadleigh Park Business Park, Chapel Lane, Essex, SS7 2PP.
In our baseline year, we operated with 20.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) employees. While we have one primary office, as a specialist insurance intermediary, our business model is predominantly online. Most of our services, communications and client interactions are conducted digitally, with minimal reliance on physical infrastructure beyond our office space. This significantly reduces our operational footprint and associated emissions from travel and on-site energy use.
As our business grows, we anticipate an initial proportional increase in emissions. This potential rise is factored into our Carbon Reduction Plan, ensuring that we take appropriate measures to mitigate and offset any increases while maintaining our commitment to sustainability.
| Scope 1 | We do not operate any company-owned cars or leased vehicles. As such, there are no Scope 1 transport emissions to report for the 2024 period. We will continue to review our operations to ensure any future sources are identified and reported accurately. Based on this estimate, our total Scope 1 emissions for the 2024 period are 0 kg CO2e. |
| Scope 2 | As tenants in a leased office space where the electricity and gas are procured by the landlord, we do not have direct control over energy purchases. As a result, we report no Scope 2 emissions for the 2024 period. We have reported emissions associated with purchased electricity at our office under Scope 3. Our total Scope 2 emissions for the 2024 period are 0 kg CO2e. |
| Scope 3 | As an office-based organisation, the majority of our Scope 3 emissions stem from indirect activities such as employee commuting, business travel, waste generation and downstream postal deliveries. Our operations rely heavily on digital infrastructure, and we do not manage any external facilities. We have calculated our emissions using a combination of actual billing data, operational estimates and UK Government emissions factors. Our business travel emissions are minimal. Only one employee travels regularly, averaging 150 miles per month by a large petrol car. Our commuting emissions were estimated based on 10.5 FTEs who regularly commute using a mix of average-sized cars and local buses. The remaining employees work from home full time or follow hybrid work patterns with limited travel.ActivityTypekgCO2eManaged AssetsElectricity4098.97Managed AssetsGas0Managed AssetsWater Supply98.60Managed AssetsWater Treatment119.62WasteGeneral3.97WasteRecycling0.71Business TravelCar – Large778.86Employee CommutingCar – Average1876.91Employee CommutingBus – Local1436.53DeliveriesVan – Class II489.63DeliveriesVan – Class I79851.20 Total kg CO2e82,812 We have estimated the emissions generated from our waste based on our operational waste management practices. We use a 500-litre waste bin that is collected weekly, typically filled to less than half its capacity. Applying an average office waste density of approximately 0.1 kilograms per litre, this equates to roughly 25 kilograms of waste generated per week. When extrapolated over the course of the year, this corresponds to an estimated total of approximately 1.3 tonnes of annual waste. This is apportioned between general and recyclable streams based on typical office waste composition. Currently, we do not directly track detailed delivery mileage or logistics data. However, we receive weekly deliveries of office-related goods, most of which are locally sourced. A significant proportion of our Scope 3 emissions arises from downstream distribution, primarily due to physical letters sent to customers. We process over 3,500 insurance policies per week, including both new sales and renewals. While the vast majority of policy documents are sent electronically, we still send an estimated 500 letters per week via postal services. This equates to approximately 26,000 letters annually. To calculate emissions from this activity, we: Assumed all letters are sent via a standard courier or postal service using small to medium vansApplied UK Government conversion factors for average last-mile van delivery emissionsCalculated emissions using the estimated number of letters, an average delivery distance and the vehicle emission factor per delivery type As a result, downstream delivery emissions were estimated at approximately 79,851.20 kg CO2e, which accounts for over 95% of our total Scope 3 footprint. In future, we aim to work more closely with our delivery partners to obtain more accurate data and identify ways to reduce our delivery-rated carbon footprint. Our total Scope 3 emissions for the 2024 period are 82,812 kg CO2e. |
Emission Reduction Targets
To continue our progress toward achieving Net Zero by 2045, we have adopted an Absolute Contraction Approach to carbon reduction. Our targets are as follows:
- 2035: Target of 50% Carbon reduction to 44377.50 kg CO2e
- 2040: Target of 75% Carbon reduction to 22188.79 kg CO2e
- 2045: Target of 100% Carbon reduction to Net Zero
Figure 1: Our carbon reduction targets by year
Carbon reduction projects
The carbon reduction opportunities outlined in this section, once fully implemented, will reduce our GHG emissions annually, aligning with our goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2045.
Scope 1 actions
- Continuously monitor for any potential future Scope 1 sources of direct emissions, such as fuel-burning appliances, backup generators or changes in building infrastructure
- Ensure that any new equipment or systems introduced into the office are low-emission and do not contribute to direct carbon outputs
- Maintain close communication with building management to confirm there is no on-site combustion that would fall under our Scope 1 boundary
- Regularly review operational activities to ensure emissions remain negligible and accurately reported
Scope 2 actions
- Work with our electricity supplier and building management to transition to a 100% renewable energy tariff for our leased office space
- Invest in an energy management system to monitor and optimise energy use
- Introduce power management policies for hardware such as laptops, PCs, printers
- Offset any residual CO2 emissions through the purchase of equivalent carbon emissions credits from an International Carbon Reduction & Offset Alliance (ICROA) provider
Scope 3 actions
Business travel (including employee commuting)
- Recruit within the local area to reduce travel needs – for each contract/Framework we plan to recruit within a 40-mile radius of the client site
- We will interrogate our data from travel to better understand if and where carbon reductions can be made
- Continue to encourage the use of walking or public transport, particularly trains
- Encourage car sharing
- Continue to support and encourage hybrid/homeworking
- Encourage the continued use of virtual meeting platforms where possible
- Promote cycling to work by providing information and participating in cycle-to-work schemes
Waste management and reduction
- Work towards a paperless office
- Work with our waste management provider to ensure we prioritise sustainability
- Complete waste audits to maximise recycling and minimise waste production
- For non-recyclable waste we will establish relationships with local energy recovery facilities