How Emperor strengthened carbon data quality and built a science-based carbon reduction strategy
Who is Emperor?
Emperor is an employee-owned strategic and creative communications consultancy and certified B Corp. The company helps organisations build stronger relationships with employees, investors, customers, and other stakeholders through clear, authentic, and effective communications.
Its expertise spans brand, digital, reporting, sustainability communications, and moving image, helping organisations translate ambition into measurable outcomes.
As a B Corp, Emperor is committed to responsible business practices and continuously improving its environmental and social impact.
The Challenge:
As part of its responsible business agenda, Emperor wanted to make carbon reduction a shared objective across its operations, ways of working, and services. To achieve this, the business first needed a clear understanding of its carbon footprint and the activities driving emissions.
As its sustainability programme developed, Emperor identified two key challenges:
- Improving the quality and completeness of emissions data across the business.
- Developing a practical carbon reduction strategy that could support continued business growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Without robust data and a clear reduction pathway, it would be difficult to prioritise actions, measure progress, and communicate environmental performance with confidence.
The Goals:
Emperor wanted to:
- Measure and understand its carbon footprint in greater detail.
- Improve the quality, accuracy, and coverage of emissions data.
- Identify the most significant carbon hotspots across the business.
- Evaluate potential reduction opportunities and their impact.
- Establish science-based targets aligned with climate science.
- Build a long-term carbon reduction strategy that could scale alongside business growth.
The Solution:
A structured carbon management programme was developed to help Emperor improve emissions reporting, identify priorities, and establish a clear pathway for carbon reduction.
Materiality assessment
A detailed materiality assessment of Emperor’s financial ledger was conducted to identify and quantify significant greenhouse gas emission sources across the organisation.
This assessment enabled the business to:
- Understand which activities contributed most to its carbon footprint.
- Improve the completeness and accuracy of emissions reporting.
- Prioritise resources towards the highest-impact areas.
- Build a stronger foundation for future reporting and reduction activities.
Carbon footprint reporting
Annual carbon footprint reporting was implemented to provide a detailed analysis of Emperor’s greenhouse gas emissions across its operations.
The reporting process enabled Emperor to:
- Track emissions performance year on year.
- Monitor progress against sustainability objectives.
- Identify emerging trends and risks.
- Receive targeted recommendations focused on key emissions hotspots.
Scenario modelling
To support strategic decision-making, scenario modelling was carried out across four major emissions hotspots:
- Business travel
- Employee commuting
- Printing
- Office electricity
Different reduction scenarios were evaluated to understand their potential impact on greenhouse gas emissions and identify the most effective actions for reducing the company’s footprint.
This modelling provided a practical evidence base for future sustainability initiatives and investment decisions.
Science-based targets
Building on the insights gained through carbon footprinting and materiality assessment, Emperor established science-based emissions reduction targets aligned with climate science.
The business formally submitted:
- Near-term Scope 1 and Scope 2 science-based targets.
- A long-term net-zero target through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
These targets provide a clear framework for future emissions reductions and accountability.
Working with the 51toCatbonZero team has been invaluable for our sustainability strategy. Their data and insights enhance our RFP responses and annual report, allowing us to confidently address carbon impact questions and demonstrate our commitment to transparency and future goals.
Simon Tappenden
Group Operations Manager and Partner, Emperor
The Results:
Emperor significantly strengthened its understanding of its environmental impact and established a robust foundation for long-term carbon management.
Key outcomes:
Improved the quality and coverage of carbon emissions data across the business.
Identified and quantified the organisation’s most significant emissions sources.
Established annual carbon footprint reporting and hotspot analysis.
Developed scenario models to evaluate the impact of reduction initiatives.
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