Sustainability partnerships
Woodland Trust
In 2023/2024, we continued our support for organisations working to preserve our natural environment by sponsoring two one-acre groves at a Woodland Trust site, Trafalgar Wood in Kent. Each grove contains approximately 750 British native trees which, over their lifetime, have the potential to sequester over 300 tonnes of carbon.
Surfers Against Sewage
Bloomsbury continues our support of Surfers Against Sewage (“SAS”). SAS is a grassroots charity that campaigns to protect the ocean and to make environmental conservation an exciting activity for young people, families and communities. Our donation supports the annual #MillionMileClean #MMC initiative, which brings volunteers together to tackle plastic pollution across the UK. The campaign has seen volunteers clean 348,214 miles all over the UK. Our donation also supports the charity's education programmes, which reach over 1.4 million pupils in 3,746 schools across the UK.
Encouraging a sustainability culture
Carbon Literacy Training
In October 2023, we launched Bloomsbury’s Carbon Literacy Training course, a bespoke course for Bloomsbury colleagues helped by Bloomsbury author Jen Gale and the award-winning team at The Carbon Literacy Trust. The course aims to help staff understand the actions they can take as individuals. We have run seven courses and have now rolled out availability across Bloomsbury offices globally.
Flexible office working
Bloomsbury’s hybrid work policy means Bloomsbury can reduce its transportation-related emissions per full time employee from an overall reduction in staff commuting as well as energy consumption in our office buildings. Bloomsbury’s full time employees have increased by 41% since the base year of 2019/2020, whereas emissions associated with Employee Commuting (category 7) have only increased by 35%, demonstrating an overall reduction in emissions per full-time employee. Our consumption has reduced from 707,568 kWh in 2019/2020 to 557,051 kWh in 2023/2024.
Sustainable production
We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our print products. To that end, we work primarily with Forestry Stewardship Council (“FSC”) accredited suppliers, and in North America with Sustainable Forestry Initiative (“SFI”) suppliers to ensure that our paper is FSC or SFI certified.
During 2023/2024, we made several changes to our paper sourcing. Increased oversight of paper related emissions has informed strategic paper-purchasing decisions, enabling a move towards low-carbon paper with our biggest UK print supplier.
Print-on-demand
Changes in print technology are making it increasingly economical to manufacture books at the time of, and in the quantity needed for, sale, and in some cases in the territory of sale. This reduces the CO2 generated by pulping, recycling and transporting unsold books.
Digital publishing and e-formats
Our editorial strategy and XML-based production workflow embrace digital publishing and the potential benefits this may bring to the environment. Our focus on digital formats and products allows millions of students to access essential resources without using paper and enables consumers to purchase Bloomsbury titles in digital formats should they wish to avoid the consumption of paper products.
Next steps
During 2024/2025, we aim to achieve the following to continue to advance our sustainability objectives:
- Launch a suite of sustainable benefits for staff;
- Continue to work with our key suppliers to gather accurate data and achieve our emissions reduction targets;
- Develop our transition plan. See pages 66 to 81 for further information about our approach to developing a transition plan;
- Launch Bloomsbury’s new travel policy and travel booking portal that will enable us to track emissions related to business travel;
- Continue to engage and educate colleagues through our Carbon Literacy Training course which 5% of staff have attended and are being delivered monthly in 2024/25; and
- Continue to work with our partners and peers within the industry to drive change throughout the publishing supply chain, for example we are collaborating with the aim of creating an industry-wide tool kit to enable the publishing industry to provide standardised Carbon Literacy training.
2023/2024 Environmental performance
We report on our greenhouse gas emissions as required by the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013. We also report on our greenhouse gas emissions, waste production and water consumption in
alignment with the 2006 Government Guidelines, Environmental Key Performance Indicators and Reporting Guidelines for UK Businesses. In respect of greenhouse gases, we report stationary fuel use (on-site consumption of natural gas, diesel and fuel
oil), vehicle fuel use, refrigerant use and electricity use in kWh, converted to tonnes of CO2e following the protocols provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (“DEFRA”). Emissions have been categorised against the Greenhouse Gas Protocol scopes of reporting. The analysis of the Group’s emissions, together with waste production and water consumption, is performed by an independent external advisor, SLR, based on data we have provided and publicly available proxies to estimate activity data where required.
Fuel and electricity consumption
| 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Global (ex-UK) | United Kingdom | Global (ex-UK) | |||||
| Emissions Category | Energy (kWh) | Emissions (tCO2e) | Energy (kWh) | Emissions (tCO2e) | Energy (kWh) | Emissions (tCO2e) | Energy (kWh) | Emissions (tCO2e) |
| Fuel Consumption - Stationary (Scope 1) | 186,842 | 34 | 180,074 | 48 | 208,099 | 42 | 167,640 | 48 |
| Fuel Consumption - Mobile (Scope 1) | 102,703 | 23 | 8,607 | 2 | 79,568 | 19 | 3366 | 1 |
| Fugitive Emissions (Scope 1) | N/A | 2 | N/A | 30 | N/A | 5 | N/A | 2 |
| Electricity (Scope 2, location-based*) | 557,052 | 115 | 416,435 | 164 | 556,188 | 108 | 469,012 | 160 |
| Electricity (Scope 2, market-based*) | 557,052 | – | 416,435 | – | 556,188 | – | 469,012 | – |
| Total scope 1 and 2 (location- based) | 846,597 | 175 | 605,116 | 244 | 843,855 | 174 | 640,018 | 211 |
| Total scope 1 and 2 (market-based) | 846,597 | 59 | 605,116 | 80 | 843,855 | 66 | 640,018 | 51 |
Greenhouse gas emissions: Scope 1 and 2
Total Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) GHG emissions for 2023/2024 were 139 tCO2e. Scope 1 makes up 100% of these emissions as we purchase 100% renewable energy for all our offices direct from the supplier or via the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates.
Scope 1 emissions increased 20% year-on-year, predominantly due to the need for a one-off increase in refrigerant gas in the New York office.
| Quantity | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute tonnes CO2e | Normalised tonnes CO2e per £m revenue | ||||||
| GHGs | Data source and calculation methods | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year |
| Scope 1 Direct impacts | |||||||
| Stationary fuel use | Actual consumption in kWh. Where not available, data was estimated using available actuals or proxies. BEIS emissions factors were used to convert kWh to GHG emissions. | 82 | 90 | 96 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Fugitive emissions | Actual data in kg. Where not available, an estimated intensity was derived from available data and apportioning based on floor area. BEIS emissions factors were used to convert refrigerant-specific kg to GHG emissions. | 32 | 8 | 63 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Company cars | Annual consumption in litres. Litres were converted to kWh and to emissions using BEIS conversion factors. | 25 | 20 | 14 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Total Scope 1 | 139 | 118 | 173 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | |
| Quantity | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute tonnes CO2e | Normalised tonnes CO2e per £m revenue | ||||||
| GHGs | Data source and calculation methods | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year |
| Scope 2 Impacts | |||||||
| Electricity use – location-based emissions | Actual annual consumption of purchased electricity in kWh. Where data was not available, data was estimated using available actuals or proxies. For location-based emissions calculations, consumption data was converted to emissions according to the regional factor. | 280 | 267 | 354 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Electricity use – market-based emissions | Since 2022/2023, Bloomsbury has purchased 100% renewable energy either direct from suppliers or non-renewable consumption data has been converted to emissions according to the residual mix emission factor for the region. | 0 | 0 | 446 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Total Scope 2 | 0 | 0 | 446 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | |
| Total Scope 1+2 (Location-based) | 419 | 386 | 527 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 3.2 | |
| Total Scope 1+2 (Market-based) | 139 | 118 | 619 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 3.8 | |
- Previously, we have reported water and waste as part of our Scope 2 reporting. This is captured in the Scope 3 table below; water is part of category 1 (PG&S) and waste is part of category 5 (Waste generated in operations).
Greenhouse gas emissions: Scope 3
Bloomsbury’s total Scope 3 emissions for 2023/2024 were 67,206 tCO2e (2022/2023: 37,350 tCO2e). Category 1 (purchased goods and services) contributed to 87% of Bloomsbury’s total value chain emissions, with category 4 (upstream transportation and distribution) contributing to a further 8%.
The table below shows the breakdown of Scope 3 emissions by category.
| Activity | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year 2019/2020 | Revenue intensity (2023/2024) | Revenue intensity (2022/2023) | Base year 2019/2020 | Relevant to Bloomsbury |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Purchased goods and services (“PG&S”) | 58,320 | 29,485 | 24,756 | 170.2 | 111.6 | 152.2 | Relevant |
| 2. Capital goods | - | - | - | - | - | - | Relevant, included within PG&S |
| 3. Fuel- and energy-related activities | 113 | 115 | 122 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | Relevant |
| 4. Upstream transportation & distribution | 5,177 | 5,442 | 10,101 | 15.1 | 20.6 | 62.0 | Relevant |
| 5. Waste generated in operations | 24 | 32 | 34 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | Relevant |
| 6. Business travel | 1,223 | 478 | 916 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 5.6 | Relevant |
| 7. Employee commuting | 585 | 587 | 434 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.7 | Relevant |
| 8. Upstream leased assets | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Relevant |
| 9. Downstream transportation and distribution | 1,269 | 694 | 876 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 5.4 | Relevant |
| 10. Processing of sold products | - | - | - | - | - | - | Relevant |
| 11. Use of sold products | - | - | - | - | - | - | Not Relevant |
| 12. EOL treatment of sold products | 487 | 516 | 471 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.9 | Not Relevant |
| 13. Downstream leased assets | - | - | - | - | - | - | Relevant |
| 14. Franchises | - | - | - | - | - | - | Not Relevant |
| 15. Investments | 2 | 2 | - | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | Not Relevant |
| Total | 67,206 | 37,350 | 37,713 | 196.1 | 141.4 | 231.8 |
- In 2023/2024, Bloomsbury restated base year emissions across Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 using current methodology and the use of more granular data in our emissions calculations. We have restated the 2022/2023 and 2019/2020 (base year) comparatives in the table above. Restated figures include data for acquired companies ABC-CLIO and Head of Zeus from the base year.
The increase in category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services) between 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 predominantly reflects the increased granularity of supplier-specific paper related emissions data (also reflected in the restatement of prior years) alongside significant increase in paper used in the production of best-selling titles, reflecting the exceptional sales during the year.
The reduction in category 4 (Transport and Distribution) emissions from the base year to 2023/2024 represents a near total end to air freight and successful focus on stock control.
Business travel, commuting and teleworking emissions have increased driven by growth in the Group’s staff and global operations since the base year.
Total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (tCO2e)
The total Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions (market-based) for Bloomsbury in 2023/2024 is 67,345 tCO2e (2022/2023 37,467 tCO2e).
| Scope | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | Base year 2019/2020 | Revenue intensity (2023/2024) | Revenue intensity (2022/2023) | Base year 2019/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Scope 1 | 139 | 118 | ||||
| Total Scope 2 (Location-based) | 280 | 267 | 354 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Total Scope 2 (Market-based) | 0 | 0 | 446 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Total Scope 3 | 67,206 | 37,350 | 37,713 | 196.1 | 141.4 | 231.8 |
| Total Scope 3 Category 1 (PG&S) | 58,320 | 29,485 | 24,756 | 170.2 | 111.6 | 152.2 |
| Total emissions (Market-based) | 67,345 | 37,468 | 38,332 | 196.5 | 141.8 | 235.6 |
| Total emissions (Location-based) | 67,625 | 37,735 | 38,240 | 197.3 | 142.8 | 235.1 |
- Bloomsbury’s reduction targets are market-based emissions
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