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Carbon Reduction Plan

Summary Statement

Panacea Applications Limited (“Panacea”) has long been focused on creating a positive environmental legacy. Our environmental policy aligns with the key themes of Net Zero and includes a commitment to continual improvement and pollution prevention. Panacea promotes the integration of environmental considerations into our wider operational practices in pursuit of sustainable operations that benefit all. Panacea has achieved ISO 14001:2015 certification and is actively cutting carbon emissions by emphasizing practices that reduce the consumption of natural resources and minimize waste.

Commitment to achieving Net Zero

Panacea is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Please note that 2022 was our first reporting year for Scope 3, so our baseline emissions and 2022 emissions falling under Scope 3 are the same.

Baseline Emissions Footprint

Baseline emissions represent the greenhouse gases produced prior to implementing emission-reduction strategies. These emissions serve as the reference point against which we measure future reductions.

Baseline Emissions 

Panacea has calculated baseline emissions for Scope 1, Scope 2, and a subset of Scope 3 emissions. The selected baseline represents typical business operations for these scopes and provides a benchmark for setting reduction targets. Emissions have been monitored since our ISO 14001 certification, with specific reduction targets/objectives implemented in some areas. A subset of Scope 3 emissions has been gathered and calculated for 2022 and 2023 and reported in the “Previous Year’s Emissions Reporting” and “Current Emissions Reporting” sections. These cover the following Scope 3 subcategories:

  • Purchased Goods and Services

  • Business travel

  • Employee commuting

  • Waste disposal

  • Homeworking

The following Scope 3 subcategories do not apply to our business:

  • Transportation and Distribution: There is no physical transportation involved in the distribution of most of our purchased services (e.g., hosting, penetration testing) or in the provision of our online software products.

  • Investments: Our business is not engaged in any investments.

  • Leased Assets and Franchises: We have no activity related to leased assets or franchises.

  • Use of Sold Products: Our product is online software, and the emissions resulting from its use come from servers owned by another company. These emissions are already covered under the “Purchased Goods and Services” category.

Calculation of Scope 1, 2 & 3 Emissions

Scope 1, 2 & 3 Emissions have all been calculated using the UK Government GHG Conversion Factors, with the exception of the emissions from our data centre and servers. This figure has been provided by iomart Group plc, the company that owns and manages the servers. It represents the estimated proportion, based on average figures, of the total tCO2 reported in 2023 for the two data centres housing the servicers used by Panacea Software.


We have not calculated emissions for products where there were no conversion factors available from the UK Government. For example, all the computer equipment which Panacea bought in 2023 was refurbished, meaning they were built with recycled materials. There are no conversion factors available for such products, so we have simply written “Reliable data not available”.


Panacea has been unable to collect precise data on waste disposal; however, waste generation is minimal and not a significant part of company operations. It primarily consists of small amounts of general waste (e.g., unsolicited marketing literature, food wrappings from staff’s packed lunches and occasional printouts) collected by the council.


Similarly, accurate data on the purchase of general office equipment during 2023 was not available. However, this is minimal, as Panacea is a small company that is now largely paperless. Most of our processes are conducted online, reducing the need for office equipment.


There were no UK Government GHG conversion factors available for the Homeworking category in 2021 when our baseline plan and data were first reported. Our targets have since been adjusted to reflect the introduction of these factors.


When calculating Scope 3 emissions, the following guidance was used or observed:


Baseline Year Emissions

Baseline year:

2021

Total Emissions

6.17 tCO₂e

Scope 1

0.98 tCO₂e - Gas

Scope 2

1.37 tCO₂e - Electricity

Scope 3

2.99 tCO₂e - Purchased Goods and Services

  • Data centre & servers: 1,920 kgCOe

  • Computer & office equipment:  1,005 kgCOe

  • General office supplies: 63.5 kgCOe

 

0.40 tCO₂e - Business Travel

  • 0km travel by car = 0

  • 11,472 km travel bus and rail = 403 kgCO

 

0.41 tCO₂e - Employee commuting

  • 7,740 km travelled by tube = 341 kgCO 

  • 1,935 km travelled by rail = 68 kgCO 

 

0.02 tCO₂e - Waste disposal

  • Recycled waste = 11.8 kgCO 

  • Non-recycled waste = 12.3 kgCO 

 

0.00 tCO₂e – Homeworking*

  • There were no GHG conversion factors available for this category in 2021, so this sum was not previously reported.

 

0.00 tCO₂e - Use of sold products

We sell online software, and the emissions resulting from its use come from servers provided by our hosting company which are already covered by the 'Purchased Goods and Services' category

 

0.00 Upstream transportation and distribution

The services we purchase for our SaaS business do not require physical transportation

 

0.00 Downstream transportation and distribution

There is no physical transportation involved in the distribution of our products, which are online software solutions

Previous Year’s Emissions Reporting

Reporting Year

2022

Total Emissions

12.75 tCO₂e

Scope 1

0.91 tCO₂e - Gas

Scope 2

1.25 tCO₂e - Electricity 

Scope 3

2.99 tCO₂e - Purchased Goods and Services

  • Data centre & servers: 1,920 kgCOe

  • Computer & office equipment:  1,005 kgCOe

  • General office supplies: 63.5 kgCOe

 

0.40 tCO₂e - Business Travel

  • 11,472 km travel bus and rail = 403 kgCOe

 

0.41 tCO₂e - Employee commuting

  • 7,740 km travelled by tube = 341 kgCOe

  • 1,935 km travelled by rail = 68 kgCOe

 

0.02 tCO₂e - Waste disposal

  • Recycled waste = Reliable data not available

  • Non-recycled waste = Reliable data not available

 

6.77 tCO₂e – Homeworking

  • Across 20 Panacea employees: 6773 kgCOe

 

0.00 tCO₂e - Use of sold products

We sell online software, and the emissions resulting from its use come from servers provided by our hosting company which are already covered by the 'Purchased Goods and Services' category

 

0.00 Upstream transportation and distribution

The services we purchase for our SaaS business do not require physical transportation

 

0.00 Downstream transportation and distribution

There is no physical transportation involved in the distribution of our products, which are online software solutions

 

Current Emissions Reporting

Reporting Year

2023

Total Emissions

12.6 tCO₂e 

Scope 1

1.40 tCO₂e - Gas 

Scope 2

0.98 tCO₂e - Electricity  

Scope 3

0.78 tCO2e - Purchased Good and Services

  • Data centre & servers: 780 kgCO2e

  • Computer & office equipment: Reliable data not available

  • General office supplies: Reliable data not available

0.07 tCO2e - Business Travel

  • 0 km travelled by car: 0 kgCO2e

  • 0 km travelled by London Underground = 0 kgCO2e

  • 766.66 km travelled by National Rail = 67.1 kgCO2e

0.80 tCO2e - Employee Commuting

  • 10,268 km travelled by London Underground = 351 kgCO2e

  • 10,561 km travelled by National Rail = 453 kgCO2e

0.00 tCO2e - Waste Disposal

  • Recycled Waste: Reliable data not available

  • Non-recycled: Reliable data not available

8.57 tCO2e - Homeworking

  • Across 26 Panacea employees: 8567 kgCO2e

 

0.00 tCO2e - Use of sold products

We sell online software, and the emissions resulting from its use come from servers provided by our hosting company which are already covered by the 'Purchased Goods and Services' category

 

0.00 Upstream transportation and distribution

The services we purchase for our SaaS business do not require physical transportation

 

0.00 Downstream transportation and distribution

There is no physical transportation involved in the distribution of our products, which are online software solutions

 

Priorities to achieve Net Zero

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets.

 

  • Panacea is targeting net zero emissions across all its activities by 2050.

  • This target includes the full activity of our supply chain working on our behalf.

  • This target includes all emission sources covered in PPN06/21.

 

To achieve these objectives, we will continue to assess activities associated with scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, such as looking to reduce our consumption of electricity and natural gas.

 

Progress against these targets can be seen in the graph below:

* The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) conversion factors for the Homeworking were not available in 2021 when our baseline emissions were reported. Our targets and emission reports have been adjusted to include this category since the conversion factors were published in 2022 (www.gov.uk). Accordingly, to provide an accurate illustration of our emissions against target, the above chart includes our target adjusted retrospectively for 2021, and 6.2 tCO2e for homeworking in 2021 accounting for homeworking days of 16 Panacea employees that year, calculated using the conversion factors provided by the UK government for 2022.

The top 3 actions that Panacea continues to focus on to tackle the global climate emergency are:

 

1. Energy Saving

Panacea is implementing strategies to secure the efficient use of energy and water, and of equipment, furniture, and materials utilising natural resources. Wherever possible the office furniture and computer equipment we purchase is second-hand or refurbished.  We are committed to continuing to operate a hybrid working policy for all relevant staff. We will nevertheless continue to encourage our employees to work in the office, as we acknowledge that this is more energy efficient than each of us heating and lighting our own homes. Our company does not provide company cars and actively encourages use of public transport for commuting and business travel.

2. Purchased Goods and Services

Panacea is committed to reducing CO2 emissions in its hosting infrastructure, the largest proportion of emissions generated by its business is from the data centre and servers required to host our software. Continual adaptation of our hosting infrastructure and architecture to harness the environmental benefits of cloud hosting over on prem servers in so far as the security of these technologies evolves to meet our subscribers needs, represents the greatest opportunity for carbon reduction for our business.

3. Supply Chain

Panacea is committed to operating an environmentally preferable purchasing policy in respect of goods and services, including promoting the adoption of sound environmental principles and practices by suppliers and contractors to the Company. Our hosting is provided by iomart PLC, the UK’s first Carbon Neutral web hosting company.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard** and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting***.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard****.


** https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard

*** https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting

**** https://ghgprotocol.org/standards/scope-3-standard


Rachel Wynne Managing Director T: 0207 976 0116 E: tenders@panacea-software.com


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