Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
58 OCU Group Annual report and financial statements 2026
Environment continued
Playing our part in tackling climate change
Long-term emissions reduction targets (submitted for SBTi validation) OCU Group commits to: • Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90.0% by FY50 from a FY25 base year. • Reduce absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 90.0% by FY50 from a FY25 base year. The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from biogenic feedstocks. The targets will guide investment in fleet, plant, energy, efficiency and supply chain engagement. Measuring, reporting and assurance Robust measurement and transparent reporting are fundamental to delivering our decarbonisation strategy. During FY26, OCU Group continued to strengthen its environmental reporting framework, improving the quality, consistency and timeliness of sustainability data across the business. To support our growing reporting requirements and enhance decision-making, we have established a dedicated ESG team responsible for overseeing environmental, social and governance performance across the Group. The team is focused on strengthening data governance, driving continuous improvement and ensuring sustainability considerations remain embedded within business operations and strategic decision-making.
At the date of publication, OCU Group’s targets remain under review by the Science Based Targets initiative and have not yet been validated. Due to our significant growth, expansion into Australia and New Zealand and the resulting complexities in calculation of our Scope 3 emissions, the submission of our targets for validation was delayed by six months and final approval by SBTi is scheduled. Accordingly, references to our science‑based targets within this report should not be interpreted as SBTi‑approved or SBTi‑validated targets. Our non‑validated science-based targets and commitments are: Net-zero commitment OCU Group commits to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by FY50. Near-term emissions reduction targets (submitted for SBTi validation) OCU Group commits to: • Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42.0% by FY35 from a FY25 base year. • Reduce absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel and energy-related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting and upstream leased assets by 28.85% by FY35 from a FY25 base year.
We have also continued to streamline and improve our carbon reporting processes, creating greater efficiency in data collection, validation and analysis. As part of this program, OCU is rolling out the SustainIQ sustainability management platform across the Group. Once fully implemented, SustainIQ will provide enhanced visibility of environmental performance, improve data management capabilities and support more efficient reporting against internal and external requirements. OCU maintained its CDP score of C, reflecting continued development in climate governance, risk management and reporting. Data quality and assurance remain a key priority. For the second consecutive year, OCU’s greenhouse gas emissions data has undergone independent external verification from Achilles, in line with the requirements of ISO 14064-3 2019, and has been Carbon Reduce certified having measured our greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with ISO 14064-1, providing stakeholders with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and reliability of our reported emissions data. Carbon reduction Our rapid organic growth and acquisitions continue to provide a challenge on the reduction of our emissions as we look to decouple carbon emissions from growth. In FY26, our absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions, increased by 29%, however our carbon intensity (tCO 2 e/£m revenue) has reduced by 3% Further details on our carbon performance, are included within the TCFD and SECR disclosures on pages 74 and 75 in this report.
Accelerating our transition to a lower-carbon future
OCU supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy through critical infrastructure delivery and improvements to its own operations. Climate change presents both risk and opportunity, requiring targeted investment, innovation and operational control. In FY26, OCU strengthened its climate strategy, emissions reporting and understanding of Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, supporting its net-zero commitment for 2050. Further information is provided in the TCFD and SECR disclosures from page 74.
Key achievements Advancing our carbon reduction strategy
In FY26, OCU completed and submitted its science-based targets (SBTs) to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation. The targets have been developed using our FY25 greenhouse gas inventory and are aligned with the latest climate science and the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. The submission process was supported by a comprehensive assessment of our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, providing greater visibility of emissions across our value chain and enabling the development of a long-term decarbonisation roadmap.
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