Islands Energy Group, parent company of Isle of Man Energy, has pledged to become a Net Zero business by 2050 in the newly-published Group-wide sustainability strategy – Our Journey to Net Zero.
Including a sustainability framework and new science-based carbon emissions reporting processes, the strategy outlines the steps the organisation is looking to take and deliver against ambitious targets in becoming a more sustainable and community-focused business.
The strategy follows an organisational rebrand from Manx Gas to Isle of Man Energy in 2022, as it continues to transform the business from gas supply to energy management. The new name represented a new direction for the business and its ambition to play a key role in the island’s renewable energy transition.
Chief Executive Officer at Islands Energy Group Jo Cox said: “The sustainability strategy outlines fundamental changes we must make as a Group to reduce our environmental impact. Every business is responsible for making positive sustainable change, and for us as an energy company, we know how significant our part to play in that is.
“We have been taking care of the island’s energy needs for almost 200 years and our commitment to customers and the island remains unchanged. Our customers remain at the core of our sustainable ambitions. Energy needs to move in a new low-carbon direction – it’s a priority for our customers, our employees, and our government, and we’re responding to that.”
Islands Energy Group has invested in its sustainability commitments with a dedicated sustainability team led by Alex Herschel (pictured), Chief Sustainability Officer. In this trailblazing role within the IEG leadership team, Alex has driven the development of the strategy and is now focussed on the delivery.
Alex added: “There are four pillars within the strategy, each outlining a key area to manage, monitor and reduce our carbon emissions and support our customers to do the same, protect our local environment and give back to our local community. Along with long-term goals to introduce new products and technologies, our strategy shows how we will explore exciting sources of energy such as renewable gas.
“We’ve also defined our carbon emission scope boundaries and targets because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. One of the first steps we took on our journey to Net Zero was to set up a new carbon reporting framework to international standards so that we could robustly calculate our operational carbon footprint and that of the gas we supply to our customers. This information then went into setting our Net Zero Action Plan and science-based carbon reduction targets for the business. We will release a sustainability report which will show how we’re doing against our sustainability performance targets and where we need to improve our performance.”
