In September 2019, Fotonow declared a Climate Emergency, recognising our responsibility as a business to address the global climate crisis. We were among the earliest businesses in Plymouth to make this commitment, aligning with Plymouth City Council’s climate emergency declaration. Our commitment is to take meaningful action towards Net Zero and integrate sustainability into every aspect of our operations.
Our Climate Goals
We have set a clear strategy to reduce our environmental impact and promote sustainability.
Our key commitments include:
✅ Developing and implementing a decarbonisation plan with steps to lower our emissions.
📢 Ensuring transparency by making our plan public and regularly reporting our progress.
❌ Rejecting funding from fossil fuel-linked organisations to align with our values.
🌍 Encouraging decarbonisation across all business activities and decision-making processes.
📜 Establishing environmental policies that prioritise sustainability in our work and partnerships.
📊 Adopting a new framework to monitor and evaluate our emissions reductions effectively.
Measuring Our Carbon Footprint
Understanding our emissions is essential to reducing them. At the start of our journey, in 2019, our total carbon footprint was 287 tonnes CO2e, with 96% of emissions coming from Scope 3 (indirect emissions from supply chains, digital infrastructure, and waste). Our emissions are categorized as follows:
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Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): Travel emissions (6.7 tonnes CO2e).
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Scope 2 (Indirect Energy Emissions): Power usage, primarily heating and electricity (2.7 tonnes CO2e).
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Scope 3 (Other Indirect Emissions): Equipment purchases (107.3 tonnes CO2e), outsourced services (121.2 tonnes CO2e), waste emissions, and digital infrastructure impacts.
Our target is to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by at least 90% by 2030 compared to our 2019 baseline. Additionally, we are working to lower Scope 3 emissions wherever possible through sustainable procurement and operational efficiencies.
Our Action Plan
To achieve our Net Zero goals, we have identified key focus areas and actions:
1. Energy, Utilities & Waste
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Work with Real Ideas (landlord) to switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier.
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Ensure all future office spaces conform to environmental standards.
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Reduce heating and water emissions through efficiency improvements.
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Minimise office waste, through staff education and focus on recycling, to near zero non-recyclable waste.
2. Sustainable Travel & Transport
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Encourage low-carbon and active travel for staff and projects, clients supporting a ‘slower’ walk, bike, bus approach.
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Implement an e-bike scheme for local production shoots, aiming for 50% of local travel by bike utilising our company e-bikes.
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Continue transitioning towards lower-emission transport methods for all business-related travel, invest in a company e-car / van.
3. Ethical Procurement & Supply Chain
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Launch a new environmental procurement policy to prioritise ethical and low-carbon suppliers.
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Increase purchases of second-hand or refurbished equipment where feasible.
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Develop a supplier sign-up process to ensure encouragement to adopt environmental policies.
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Research and implement offsetting and insetting schemes to counter unavoidable emissions.
4. Digital Infrastructure & Technology
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Assess the emissions impact of our cloud storage and digital platforms and move to clean providers.
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Research lower-carbon digital alternatives and work towards reducing reliance on high-emission data centres.
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Develop an internal tech usage tracking system to improve efficiency.
5. Community & Carbon Offsetting & Insetting
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Research local environmental charities for potential partnerships to collaborate with through donations and gifting staff time.
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Investigate high-quality carbon offsetting schemes to neutralise unavoidable emissions.
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Explore sustainable banking options with net-zero commitments and switch
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Develop focus educational programmes around Climate and Environmental Emergency
Tracking Our Progress
We are committed to full transparency and will:
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Publish annual emissions reports tracking reductions and impact.
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Provide clients with carbon footprint reports for individual projects (when requested).
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Continuously review and refine our sustainability strategy to ensure continued improvement.
The Path to Net Zero
We aim to reduce our annual emissions to 1 tonnes CO2e by 2030, a significant reduction from 2019 levels. Any remaining emissions will be offset and inset through verified schemes and outreach to achieve carbon neutrality.
We acknowledge that this is an ambitious target, but it is one we are dedicated to achieving. Sustainability is at the core of our values, and we invite our clients, partners, and community to join us in making meaningful climate action a reality.