The big question: Driving sustainability: what is your primary focus in 2024?

Adam Kramer

Vice President Corporate

Sustainability Officer at KBR

KBR’s journey in sustainability during 2023 was remarkable. We were honoured by USA Today as one of America’s Climate Leaders for that year, achieved a Gold Rating from EcoVadis for our exceptional dedication to sustainability, and saw a significant improvement in our MSCI ranking, soaring from BB to AAA.

Looking ahead to 2024, KBR’s Corporate Sustainability Office is concentrating our efforts on several key initiatives. These include the roll-out of a new carbon reporting system that is designed to enhance data collection capabilities, collaborating across the company to deploy carbon reduction strategies aimed at achieving operational net-zero emissions by 2030, and leveraging this knowledge to assist clients in reaching their own net-zero targets.

We will deploy carbon reduction strategies aimed at achieving operational net-zero emissions by 2030

Although KBR is not a major carbon emitter, the global urgency is clear, with the daily addition of 227,000 people and the loss of 42 million trees emphasising the imperative for all to contribute to carbon reduction. KBR is actively engaged in not only reducing its own carbon footprint but also in providing sustainable technology solutions that align with the needs of its customers, including advancements in blue and green ammonia, plastics recycling technologies, and sustainable aviation fuel.

KBR delivers science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. The company employs approximately 34,000 people performing diverse, complex and mission-critical roles in 33 countries. KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results.

 

Emma Scott

Vice President of Sustainability at Kent

Our primary focus is to ensure we are doing everything we can to strengthen and improve our efforts across the sustainability spectrum. This entails a steadfast commitment to advancing in our nine focus areas, organised under three core pillars: empowering people to prosper; supporting a thriving planet; and living with purpose and principles.

Last year, we launched our first sustainability report; our focus now is to build on our foundation, which was established in 2022, a year after Kent was launched. During this short time, we have reached sustainability milestones, such as measuring and reporting on our scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, with scope 3 to follow soon. We will also focus on enhancing our approach to community engagement, developing tools and systems to measure the carbon handprint of our projects and designs, and working with each region to develop their inclusion improvement plans.

We are looking at biodiversity, beginning with internal biodiversity awareness training, which is a key sustainability success metric for 2024. Our plan is to ensure that biodiversity is prioritised at people and business level first, to ensure success when engaging with third-party partners down the line.

We are looking at biodiversity, beginning with internal biodiversity awareness training, which is a key sustainability success metric for 2024

We’re also looking at adaptation, which involves using greener travel methods through employee incentive schemes for commuting, minimising the use of harmful materials in our offices, and adopting smart technology practices. Furthermore, we are running pilot projects to leverage renewable energy to power our projects.

Kent designs, builds and maintains the assets that power the world today and make it future-ready for tomorrow. From consulting to design, build, commissioning and start-up to maintenance and decommissioning, the company is committed to becoming the global leader in integrated energy services. Kent is well-equipped to address current industry challenges and is future-ready for the emergence of new and innovative energy solutions in diverse locations and disciplines.

 

Christina Horspool

Vice President Sustainability & Climate Action at X-Academy

The path to net zero presents a unique opportunity to cultivate a thriving energy workforce. Recognising the importance of securing sustainable energy roles, X-Academy was founded in 2021 to accelerate job opportunities for the energy transition while emphasising the value of prioritising people and planet.

Our focus in 2024 is on creating additional energy jobs in a responsible and sustainable way. By leveraging X-Academy’s expertise across the energy transition, including social impact, project origination and industry enablement, we are actively involved in the key areas shaping the future of energy. When bringing the necessary expertise to achieve net-zero targets across the entire energy mix, it is crucial to consider biodiversity and adaptation.

We believe delivering meaningful climate action will require considering biodiversity enhancement and the need for adaptation across every project. At X-Academy, we provide the budding energy workforce with real-world project experience focused on delivering tangible impacts for communities, fostering a holistic understanding of challenges and opportunities.

Our focus in 2024 is on creating additional energy jobs in a responsible and sustainable way

Creating social value within the framework of climate action is integral to X-Academy’s strategy. We achieve this through both our in-house projects and collaborative efforts with partners, including developers, local authorities and third-sector charities. We actively look to bring initiatives and organisations together to maximise impact.

Through working on projects that focus on biodiversity net gain and adaptation risks, we are creating a workforce that has the skillset necessary to implement these projects in years to come. By establishing these roles now, we can cultivate essential experience, giving the energy professionals of tomorrow the toolkit needed to establish a net-zero economy.

X-Academy is a not-for-profit, world-first energy jobs accelerator empowering people and enabling the energy transition. X-Academy is committed to making the industry accessible to all, where anyone and everyone can develop relevant experience and thrive. A 100% subsidiary of Xodus Group, X-Academy works with governments, the private and public sectors, rethinking how things are done to take on challenges, break down barriers, enable progress and deliver the energy transition.