Sustainability in action: How we’re delivering impactful change

4 July 2025

Last updated: 27 February 2026

ICAS

Discover the key milestones we’ve achieved on our sustainability journey and what they mean for our members and the wider business community.

Over the past year, we’ve made important strides on our sustainability journey. These milestones highlight our growing commitment to environmental responsibility, transparency and climate leadership.

Our emissions targets have been validated by SBTi

Our ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets have been assessed against the SME Criteria Assessment Indicators and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). SBTi is a corporate climate action organisation that enables companies and financial institutions worldwide to play their part in combating the climate crisis.

We’ve committed to:

Reducing our absolute Scope 1 emissions by 42% from our baseline year of 2021 by 2030
Maintaining zero Scope 2 emissions through 2030
Measuring and reducing our Scope 3 emissions

Our targets are available to view on the SBTi’s Target Dashboard.

By aligning our actions with the latest climate science, we’re doing our part to help limit global warming and support a healthier planet.

We’ve earned a Silver Medal from EcoVadis

In 2025, we completed a detailed assessment of our sustainability practices through EcoVadis, a global leader in business sustainability ratings. Following a thorough evaluation of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, we were awarded a Silver Medal.

This recognition places us among the top 15% of companies assessed by EcoVadis over the past 12 months. It reflects our ongoing commitment to responsible business practices and continuous improvement in sustainability across our operations.

We disclosed through CDP – and scored a ‘B’

We also completed our 2025 climate disclosure through CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), a global non-profit organisation running the leading environmental disclosure system. We join more than 12,500 SMEs worldwide working to drive environmental transparency and change.

Our SME climate score of ‘B’ reflects strong performance and places us at the highest level currently awarded to SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).

Climate data plays a vital role in supporting better, more informed choices. By disclosing, we’re not only being transparent - we’re also contributing to progress across the accountancy profession and wider business community.

Why we’re benchmarking progress

As global expectations for environmental accountability grow, professional bodies like ICAS are increasingly being measured on the credibility and transparency of their sustainability efforts.

By benchmarking our progress against international standards and assessments, we’re not just measuring impact - we’re raising the bar. In doing so, we’re helping to build a more transparent, responsible and climate-resilient profession.

Commenting on our achievements, Fiona Donnelly, ICAS Director of Sustainability, said:

“We are very pleased to receive external recognition for our commitments and activities to reduce our emissions. Our targets were approved by SBTi for their SME stream, and we received a silver medal from EcoVadis and ‘B’ score from CDP. Proof that the ICAS strategic pillar “Sustainability at our core” is thoroughly embraced and having an impact in the real world.

Decarbonisation requires collective effort by many, within an organisation and across external stakeholders. It’s increasingly important that we all work together to make the numerous small incremental changes that accumulate to deliver Scotland’s – and the world’s – net zero goals.”

What’s next?

These milestones mark strong progress, but they are just steps on a longer journey. We remain committed to advancing our sustainability performance and collaborating with colleagues, members and the wider business community to build a more responsible future.