A new year's resolution to go beyond net zero

In 2018, RLB UK announced significant measurable sustainability targets to be achieved by 2025. We committed to become net zero carbon across Scopes 1 and 2, and Scope 3 (waste) categories, to reduce carbon intensity per employee, and to collate and calculate carbon emissions from further non-supply chain Scope 3 categories.

They were ambitious targets, but we believed they were necessary to play our part in reducing the environmental impact of our industry.

We have more work to do and, since these targets were set, we have expanded our carbon data collection across Scope 3 to provide a more complete picture of our environmental impact.

In the 2024/25 business year, for the first time we included reporting on RLB's purchased goods and services, and in 2025/26, we will be including employee commuting. We will then be able to establish extended, science-aligned net zero targets and develop a transition plan to achieve them.

This is an important milestone as it will increase the transparency and accuracy of our reporting.

We remain committed to progressing our sustainability goals through a range of initiatives.

For example, nine out of ten of our UK measured offices now operate on REGO-backed renewable electricity tariffs, one more than the previous year. We have a target for all our offices to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

We are also working towards SKA Gold for our newly refurbished Birmingham office, with all new or refurbished offices aiming for SKA Gold certification.

In addition, the RLB forest continues to grow, with more than 4,700 trees across the UK planted by the end of 2025, keeping us on track to achieve our goal to plant 10,000 trees by 2030.

We started the tree planting initiative in 2018 with the support of our colleagues, as well as Fruitful Office, our fruit box supplier, who plant a tree for every box purchased. 

Finally, we partnered with Green the UK to plant 1,000 native trees each year on behalf of the new colleagues who join our business.

While we don't have a direct impact on biodiversity through the nature of our professional services business, we recognise the need to support and protect nature where possible.

Last year, we saw a shift from clients focusing on upfront carbon emissions associated with the initial construction of a project, including the material procurement, transportation to site and construction activities, to recognising the significance of whole life carbon strategies.

In fact, RLB's Creating a Value Chain Procurement Trends Survey 2025 showed that clients asked 33% of responding contractors to provide a whole life carbon assessment (WLCA), up from 14% in 2023.

We worked with clients ranging from private operators in the retail and data centre sectors, to public sector education and healthcare estate managers, helping them identify strategies to reduce whole life carbon consumption in their buildings.

A prime example of this was our work supporting finance provider NatWest Group. We identified core sustainability criteria that was achievable at any size, scale or value, developed a strategic roadmap to achieve net zero in the refurbishment of several retail units, and helped them secure more SKA Gold and Silver accreditations in their estate.

By implementing a comprehensive and robust data collection process, which included engagement with their main contractors and Tier 2 suppliers, WLCA modelling was set up to achieve an impressive carbon saving of 45% for their larger stores that had a full fit-out and 34% for their Refresh projects, which were given more of a light touch.

Like many stakeholders in the built environment, we welcome RICS' standards to help address the role that our sector plays in carbon emissions and how we can reduce this impact while building climate resilience.

However, the ESG agenda also includes a commitment to social value and leading through governance, which should not be ignored in favour of concentrating on sustainability.

RICS, alongside six other professional bodies, took a significant step in this regard when it signed a memorandum of understanding in 2022 to collectively advance diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Three years on, it feels as though the industry has progressed. At RLB, in part influenced by this memorandum, we set benchmarks to track how we make inclusion part of our business.

As a result, we have seen the number of female employees at RLB increase to 34%, with a continual increase in the percentage of female new starters.

We have also increased our Social Return on Investment (SROI) by 1.2% to £2.44 per £1 investment, in line with our 2025/26 target of £2.50 per £1 investment.

We must include sustainability in every part of the business from our design and construction and operational aspirations to occupancy for long-term, rather than short-term gains.

However, RLB's Creating a Value Chain Procurement Trends Survey 2025 also found that 70% of projects still do not define sustainability targets at the tender stage and this is no longer acceptable.

Addressing this one issue to bring sustainability in at the earliest stage of project tenders would significantly improve costs and value.

We also need to develop the range of ESG skills of all professionals within the sector and bring positive challenges to projects to ensure ESG is integrated from the beginning.

At RLB, our approach is to include a diverse range of voices and skills to discuss a topic that will affect our industry for generations to come and to minimise and mitigate the impact of the built environment on the environment.

Industry bodies such as RICS are essential to help support us in our ESG goals, as is governance from government departments.

However, the only way we will meet our individual professional targets is to take personal responsibility. We no longer have time to pause and reflect; now is the time to act and push the boundaries.