Zenith becomes carbon neutral thanks to offsetting strategy

Zenith has achieved carbon neutral status and received international recognition with certification from environmental consultancy Carbon Footprint. 

After calculating its carbon footprint for the first time in December 2020, the company has offset its carbon emissions for FY21 using carbon credits. 

Alan Bastey (pictured), customer relationship director and electric vehicle (EV) specialist at Zenith, said: “Everyone at Zenith has played a part in hitting this milestone. However, this is just the start of our journey, and we plan to be an industry leader in this field, as we now engage across our business and supply chain to reduce emissions.

“We have already gone beyond the initial requirements by including carbon emissions from homeworkers within the offsetting calculations.”

Zenith’s carbon offset strategy included an examination of their company car use, the energy that the company’s buildings consumed, home vehicle charging and a wide range of factors in its supply chain. 

The strategy will also see more than 800 trees planted in Yorkshire schools, investment in biomass projects in Malawi, reducing deforestation in the Amazon and solar power schemes in Vietnam.  

The move follows the company’s commitment to the global EV100 initiative, which is focused on accelerating the transition to EVs and making electric transport the new normal by 2030.

The EV100 initiative, developed by The Climate Group, brings together forward-looking companies to drive the electric transport transition, reduce air pollution and act on climate change.

Zenith is switching its own company car fleet to 100% EV by 2025 – five years ahead of the target date required by EV100.

It is also working towards joining forces with the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), an independent voluntary organisation that shows companies how much and how quickly they need to reduce their GHG emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

The partnership will allow Zenith to report on progress against targets with independent auditing and benchmarking. 

Bastey concluded: “Zenith is taking the lead on this issue and aims to set a best practice example for the fleet industry over the coming months. It’s vital that a rigorous approach to carbon reduction is adopted across our sector.” 

The carbon-neutral certification does not apply to operations covered in the recent acquisition of Cartwright Fleet Services, Cartwright Rentals and Cartwright Finance Sales, which will be integrated at the end of 2021.