Climate neutral by 2040 – at the latest

We strive to be forerunners in all markets where we operate.

Sweco, which is committed to actively supporting the transition to a low-carbon society, aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2040. While, as a consultancy, Sweco’s direct climate impact is relatively small, our target is to halve the company’s carbon emissions by 2030, as a way to achieve this goal. Sweco’s base year for climate reporting is 2020, with all emissions reductions being measured against 2020 levels.

2022 in numbers

1. 32,866 tonnes CO2e in Scopes 1, 2 and 3 in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (29,601)
2. Work and travel habits have been unusual over the past two years due to the pandemic. Now that operations have more or less returned to normal, we see that our greenhouse gas emissions are back at the same level as base year 2020. We are fully focused on realigning our operations to achieve the 2040 climate neutrality target
3. We increased the share of renewable energy sources in Sweco’s operations to 52 per cent compared to 29 per cent in 2021
4. The share of electric and hybrid vehicles increased to 42 per cent in 2022 compared to 35 per cent in 2021.

Climate targets in line with SBTi

In 2020, Sweco developed climate targets for validation and approval of the Science Based Targets initiative, SBTi, in order to ensure our climate targets are in line with the Paris Agreement and the ambition to limit temperature increases to 1.5°C. In 2022, Sweco submitted the targets to SBTi for validation and approval.

Sweco’s climate neutrality is to be achieved primarily through emissions reductions in our own operations, with no more than 15 per cent to be achieved through carbon sinks, emissions offsets, or climate compensation through established and third-party verified mechanisms.

Intensified post-pandemic activities affect emissions

Sweco’s climate footprint in 2022 amounted to 32,866 tonnes CO2e, an increase of 11 per cent compared with the previous year. Post pandemic, the gradual return to office work and increased physical presence in client projects resulted in more employee commuting and business travel in 2022. Sweco also made several acquisitions, which increased the total climate footprint. Base year recalculations are therefore planned for 2023 at Group and country levels.