Ceridian’s latest actions aim to help address the climate crisis

In our latest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report, we shared our work in 2022 that aimed to help address the existential threat of climate change. So far this year, we’ve continued this momentum by setting our first-ever Scope 3 emissions reduction target that's aligned with the best available climate science, committing to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation, and implementing new policies and programs to help achieve this objective and further integrate sustainability into our business.

Taking on an existential threat

Climate change poses a dire threat to the health and wellbeing of humanity on our planet, and every company has a responsibility to help do its part. At Ceridian, our strategy is multi-pronged. Since 2019, we have shrunk our physical footprint globally by 400,000 square feet. We have also continued our transition to the cloud and away from on-premises servers and colocation data centers. For the first time last year, we secured 100% renewable electricity across our global operations using Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), and we became a member of the U.S. EPA's Green Power Partnership for our U.S. operations. The results of these and other steps have led to a 97% reduction in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions since 2019.

Although we're proud of this progress and have received external recognition, we know that a great deal more must be done. That's why we are taking new steps to execute a more ambitious and forward-looking climate strategy.

Scope 3 emissions and SBTi

Like most companies, Ceridian’s value chain emissions — also known as Scope 3 emissions — are substantially greater than those from our direct operations. Although these emissions have declined by 32% at Ceridian over the past few years, we want to go a step further. That's why we set an aggressive new target to reduce them in the near term. Our goal is to reduce Scope 3 emissions intensity per revenue by more than 50% before 2030 from a 2019 baseline. Our primary focus will be on two categories of Scope 3 emissions specifically — those from purchased goods and services as well as business travel. As we share below, we have a plan for addressing both in the coming months.

We developed this target — and our existing Scope 1 and 2 targets — in alignment with the best available climate science to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. But to ensure greater rigor and accountability to stakeholders, in June, we committed to having them and our annual 100% renewable electricity aim validated by the SBTi. This important step further demonstrates our ambition to meaningfully contribute to our society’s efforts to decarbonize.

New policies and programs

This year, we launched three new policies to further integrate sustainable practices into our company’s operations. The first is an Environmental Sustainability Policy, which formalizes the ways Ceridian seeks to responsibly use the earth’s resources and reduce its impact on our planet. We developed employee training so everyone at our company is aware of the critical role they play as part of our sustainability journey. The second policy is an updated Vendor Code of Conduct, which highlights new requirements and expectations of our vendors for how they manage the impacts of their operations on society and the planet. The third is an updated Global Sourcing and Procurement Policy, which guides how our business makes purchasing decisions for goods and services and now includes stronger consideration of the environmental performance of current and prospective vendors.

To complement this progress on policies, we are currently building a Responsible Sourcing program, which we aim to activate later this year. We believe this will drive meaningful progress in reducing value chain emissions in pursuit of our new Scope 3 target. This program is complemented by other initiatives, including Ceridian’s Green Team and the hundreds of employees who participated in our annual Global Volunteer Month by cleaning up parks and beaches in their own communities.

We’re excited about our sustainability progress to date and plan to continue our positive momentum. As we look ahead to the rest of 2023 and beyond, we are as committed as ever to implementing sustainable policies and activities, reducing emissions, and making a positive impact on the environment worldwide. While we keep working to build a more sustainable business, we encourage you to track our ESG journey and keep an eye out for our next annual ESG report in 2024.

 

Forward-Looking Statement

This blog contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, and our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to the future and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This blog should be read in conjunction with the risks detailed in the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information,” “Forward-Looking Statement,” “Risk Factors” and other sections of Ceridian’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.