Sustainability

OUR COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ACHIEVING NET-ZERO
Wolf Safety conducts its business in the most environmentally sustainable manner possible and is firmly committed to achieving its long-term goal of Net-Zero status.
As such, sustainability and achieving Net-Zero status are at the very forefront of our corporate agenda and guide us in the way that we conduct our day to day business.
Our Environmental Management System has been certified to ISO 14001 since April 2014, and we take great pride in our ongoing journey towards achieving net-zero status.
Our recent involvement in NatWest's "Cut the Carbon" initiative, including participating in their pilot programme, has significantly shaped our developing sustainability agenda and this collaboration provided us with many valuable insights, and enabled us to identify key areas for carbon reduction and to prioritise actionable opportunities.
As a sign of our firm and ongoing committment to achieving our Environmental goals, in 2023 Wolf's Financial Director Peter O'Connell was appointed as our first Chief Sustainability Officer. During the course of 2023, Peter was responsible for driving a number of initiatives that have already led to a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.

Peter O'Connell, Wolf's Chief Sustainability Officer
RECENT SIGNIFICANT SUCCESSES HELPING TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
1. Measuring our Scope 1 and 2 For Fiscal Year 2023-24
For our fiscal year 2023-24, Wolf has completed the measurement of our Absolute Green House Gas (“GHG”) emissions (tonnes of CO2 and equivalent gases - tCO2e). They were measured as:
- Scope 1 - 54.3 tCO2e
- Scope 2 (location based) - 16.6 tCO2e
- Total (Scope 1 and 2) - 70.9 tCO2
This inventory was produced in line with best practice as outlined in the World Resources Institute Greenhouse Gas (WRI GHG) Protocol.
While the total is only 0.2 tCO2e lower than the previous baseline year, which is a smaller reduction than anticipated, it reflects the impact of operational changes. Although we implemented energy-saving measures and installed solar panels, these gains were offset by the expansion of our operations with the commissioning of a new warehouse at 101 Broadfield Road, Sheffield, next to our factory.
Wolf Safety remains committed to reducing our emissions year on year.

2. Purchase of Carbon Credits, Scope 1 and 2, For Fiscal Year 2023-24
Having measured our Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2023-24, our aim is to progressively reduce our emissions at source each year. However, as we cannot reduce past emissions we decided to offset those emissions via carob credits, so that we are “carbon neutral” (as defined in the BSI standard PAS2060 – Carbon Neutrality), for Scope 1 and 2, for that year. Carbon neutrality is an interim goal on our path to Net Zero.
To offset our emissions, we purchased 71 carbon credits, representing the retirement of 71 tCO2e of carbon. The carbon credits we purchased were certified by Verra, administrators of the Verra Registry (“Verra.org”), using the Verified Carbon Standard (“VCS”). The project we selected was “Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project in Indonesia” (project ID VCS 674), which aims to reduce Indonesia’s emissions by preserving some 64,000 hectares of tropical peat swamp forest

In our journey to Net Zero, we anticipate following the PAS2060 standard for the demonstration of carbon neutrality, whilst it’s still extant. This framework focuses on measurement of emissions to an established protocol; absolute reductions based on Science Based Target Initiative (“SBTi”) and aligned with current climate science; offsetting to an established standard and then documenting and verifying any declaration of carbon neutrality.
While we have sought to achieve a level of Scope 1 and 2 carbon neutrality for 2023-24, we have deliberately not claimed any compliance with PAS2060 nor has our work been certified in any way. We do expect to claim compliance with PAS2060 (or its successor standard) at some point in the future, however we still have considerable work to do before we are in that position.
For this reason, carbon neutrality over Scope 1 and 2 is very much our first interim goal on the Net Zero pathway. In this spirit, offsetting our measured emissions as quickly and responsibly as possible in the best way available to us was an important step forward and far preferable to waiting until we could claim compliance.
Solar Panels - 2024 Update!
We’ve completed our first full year of solar operations and our PV array performed broadly as expected. The yield for the year was 33,186kWh, despite 2024 being a summer when the sun was mostly absent! This represents an avoidance of about 6.9 metric tons of CO2 (and equivalent gasses) emissions. The sun shone more in the latter part of the summer, so we are optimistic that the yield for 2024-25 will be higher. We will report on this next year.

Decarbonising Our Fleet
2023 saw the successful conclusion of our multiyear plan to decarbonise our fleet, marking a significant milestone in our journey to net-zero. With the disposal of the last solely combustion engine powered vehicle, most of our vehicles are now fully electric, with two being hybrid.

Replacement of Fluorescent Lighting
In 2023 we began replacing fluorescent lighting with energy-efficient LEDs, replacing 12 fittings or 24 tubes. In January, 2024, we completed the process, replacing all the remaining fluorescent fittings with LEDs - a total of 160 tubes across 91 fittings.

Solar Installation
Towards the end of 2023, our solar PV array became operational, featuring 101 panels as part of a 44kWp capacity system. We anticipate that this installation will cover approximately one-third of our annual electricity needs, resulting in the avoidance of 9.4 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Destratification Fans
In January 2024, we installed 5 destratification fans in our Sheffield manufacturing plant to improve heat distribution and reduce energy consumption by up to 30% in the relevant work areas.

ANNUAL SUSTAINABILITY UPDATES
We are pleased to present our annual Sustainability Updates demonstrating our commitments to transparency and communication with our stakeholders.
Report for the Financial Year which ended June 30, 2024 can be downloaded here
Report for the Financial Year which ended June 30, 2023 can be downloaded here
