Pukka Herbs, an international producer of organic herbal tea and supplements, has joined brands such as Tesco, Marks and Spencer, and Coca Cola European Partners, in the fight against climate change by becoming only the 13th company in the UK to have its climate goal — to be zero carbon by 2030 — validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The confirmation comes shortly after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released one of the most critical reports on climate change in recent years.
With a turnover of almost £36 million, the global Bristol-based organisation was founded in 2001 by Tim Westwell and herbalist, Sebastian Pole.
Sebastian’s vision was to create a business that lives in a regenerative way and it has since become one of the fastest growing organic businesses in the world, working with more than 5000 organic growers worldwide and selling its 100% certified organic herbal teas, supplements and lattes in over 40 countries.
While many companies are setting their own carbon reduction targets, only 13 in the UK including Pukka have set independent, rigorously verified targets through the SBTi and while the smallest, it joins UK based, global organisations such as BT, Capgemini and Diageo PLC in the plight to radically reduce climate change before it’s too late.
With global emissions showing few signs of slowing and the humanity failing to hold global warming at moderate levels, “unprecedented changes” are required says the IPCC.
Following Pukka’s submission to SBTi in March 2018, the announcement of its verified target follows the IPCC report which called for rapid decarbonisation of the global economy to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. It was the most stark warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures, with international scientists claiming it as the final call to save the world from climate catastrophe.
As the first company to develop recyclable tea envelopes and as an early adopter of renewable energy, Pukka has worked with energy performance and carbon management business, Carbon Credentials to become the first UK company of its size to commit under its targets to reduce direct (scope 1) and indirect (scope 2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be zero carbon in its buildings and vehicles by 2030.
Pukka has also committed to reducing indirect scope 3 emission in its value chain, which are emissions out of a company’s direct control, by 50% from a 2017 baseline.
Pukka will achieve its science-based targets through actions ranging from engaging with suppliers to tackling the emissions caused from boiling kettles – which have the greatest impact (49%) in Pukka’s value chain.
Its ‘Smart Boiling’ campaign will encourage people to adopt some simple practices to make a ‘Pukka cuppa.’
Boiling only the amount of water you need and switching to renewable energy are just two of the ways it is highlighting to help boil smarter, saving consumers nearly £1 million a day in electricity by only boiling what’s needed.
Pukka also runs its buildings on renewable electricity while in future all its company vehicles will be electric.
