In light of the 25thsession of the Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 25) currently underway in Madrid, Spain, Levin Sources is taking a public stand on climate change, demonstrating our commitment to reducing emissions and encouraging other companies and organisations in the sector to do the same.
At Levin Sources, we are deeply concerned by the intra- and inter-generational injustices of climate change, as well as the decline in ecological health and environmental resilience felt across ecosystems and across the planet, as demonstrated in the IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Climate change destroys cultures, environments and homes, especially in the world’s most vulnerable places. While the richest 10% of people around the world are responsible for 50% of total global emissions, the poorest half of the planet are responsible for around 10%. As predicted by the UN, the climate crisis will be the “greatest ever threat to human rights” because it poses a serious global risk to life, health, food and adequate standards of living.
We understand our privileged position as part of the global north, and our responsibility to take real action. We wish to uphold the principles of the Paris Agreement, and to help accelerate the UK’s achievement of net zero carbon by 2050, in line with the UK government’s 2019 amendment to the 2008 Climate Change Act, by achieving net zero carbon across our business by 2025. We ultimately wish to go above and beyond what society would expect of us as an economic agent, namely not just achieving net zero for ourselves but net positive carbon outcomes in the pursuit of climate repair.
As a social enterprise, Levin Sources is committed to clean growth and to going beyond compliance in relation to our environmental and social performance. Since 2017, we have been monitoring our carbon footprint and taking action to reduce our emissions and this year we have developed and adopted our Environmental Policy. Our policy recommendations were designed after analysing our carbon footprint, and company-wide engagement to identify which measures would be taken, bringing together all staff to share their views and suggestions. All staff then had a further chance to review the draft policy before approval by the Senior Management Team.
The policy captures how we will minimise and mitigate our environmental impacts in our day-to-day business. Earlier this year, we also became signatories of the New York Declaration on Forests. We have been contributing to the Wildlife Trust since 2018 and we are actively seeking other avenues to engage with relevant impact initiatives in the UK and internationally.
Some examples of key measures in the policy include:
- Agree on annual emission reduction targets and revise these annually
- Prioritise train travel instead of plane travel and avoid booking business class flights
- Provide vegan or vegetarian, local, and organic meals with no plastic packaging as standard for company functions
- Minimise, reuse and recycle paper, and use only recycled or FSC paper
- Set temperature boundaries for heating and cooling the office
- Commitment to monitoring, disclosure and continuous improvement
You can find Levin Sources Environmental Policy 2019 here.
We would like to use this opportunity to encourage clients, suppliers and other stakeholders to do the same. The mining and minerals sector is both a contributor to climate change and an opportunity to mitigate climate change and build a sustainable future.
Companies, organisations, civil society and governments need to ensure that current and future extractive activities present opportunities to solve global challenges and not threats to cultural and natural heritage. We need to act collectively to transform the sector from an extractive mindset to a nourishing or nutritive mindset, and start leading by example to demonstrate that it is possible to tread lightly on the Earth and leave a positive legacy. That is why Levin Sources is taking these steps forward. We would like to advise, encourage others and work collectively to build a truly responsible and sustainable mining sector.
