Cotswold Archaeology’s Carbon Reduction Plan

Cotswold Archaeology commits to its first Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Plan

As archaeologists we see first-hand how human behaviour impacts the environment, and the changing consequences over thousands of years. This matters just as much today as it did in the past, so we’ve committed to initiatives that advance environmental, economic, and social sustainability for current and future generations. We’ll be endorsing a sustainable approach to our cultural heritage and using our professional expertise to balance the preservation of the most important aspects of our past with society’s current and future needs. We support the principle of sustainable development, and our company objectives directly align with a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to “Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.”.

Over the last couple of years, we’ve placed a heightened emphasis and scrutiny on our sustainability performance, and the Board of Directors has formally endorsed our ambition to achieve Net Zero Carbon for our operations by 2050 at the latest. We took a big step towards this at the end of 2023, with the adoption of our first Carbon Reduction Plan. This measured our Carbon Footprint for 2022/23 and we’ve used that information as a springboard for our Action Plan, which covers the period to 2027. The initiatives contained in the Plan are setting us well on the path to achieve our Net Zero goal. You can read a summary of our Carbon Reduction Plan here.

We’re still at an early stage in our sustainability pathway and recognise that while there are some activities that are in our control, in other areas our scope for independent action is much more limited. Regardless, we’re trying to do our bit for the environment and have committed to this progressive improvement over the coming years – the Carbon Reduction Plan is an important milestone on that journey.