Our Environment | Close Brothers Group

Making a positive contribution to the world around us

We take our responsibility towards the environment seriously. We are supportive of the goals of the Paris Agreement and are committed to transition all of our operational and attributable GHG emissions from our lending and investment portfolios to align with pathways to net zero by mid-century.

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Electrifying our fleet

We have set a target to have a net zero company car fleet by 2025. Our fleet of 692 cars (at July 2023) is now almost wholly battery electric or hybrid and we anticipate the majority of the vehicles to be fully electric by the end of the 2023 calendar year. Our efforts to transition our fleet has driven our fleet average emissions down to just 23.5 gCO2/km – significantly lower than the UK average for new cars.

Reducing our operational impact

We are conscious of the environmental impact of staff travel, our supply chain and our office network, and we encourage our employees to make positive change by leasing low emission cars and participating in the cycle to work scheme.

We encourage waste recycling in all our offices and 100% of the waste contractors we use across our offices send zero waste to landfill. This year, we have continued to broaden our engagement with our supply chain on environmental matters, while working with those who share our ambitions to efficiently use resources and combat the adverse effects of climate change.

Reducing our emissions

Our direct scope 1 and 2 emissions continue to fall through improved energy efficiency, greater adoption of renewable energy, and the electrification of our company car fleet.

In 2023, we extended our carbon footprinting and disclosures to cover, in addition, all categories of scope 3 emissions across our operations as well as an assessment of our financed emissions in our loan book. More details can be found in our latest Sustainability and TCFD report.

Read our sustainability report >

GHG emissions and energy use

In the 2025 financial year, our total scope 1 and 2 (market-based) GHG emissions were 1,882 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (“tCO2e”), equating to 0.61 tCO2e per employee, down 53% since 2019.

Our financed emissions

We are supporting the transition to a low carbon economy and will work with our customers on their journey to a net zero future. We support the goals of the Paris Agreement by aligning our financing activities with net zero commitments and helping customers meet their transition targets. Understanding the climate impacts of our lending portfolios, while identifying green growth opportunities, is central to our climate plan.

Our environmental strategy

Our internal Environmental Policy outlines our continued efforts towards environmental sustainability, and includes:

Compliance with all environmental legislation and codes of practice throughout the different areas we operate in and, where possible, demonstrate best practice in environmental stewardship;
Continuing to monitor and report on our environmental footprint both internally and externally;
Reducing our direct environmental impact from our operations through the introduction of various initiatives related to waste reduction and management, and our use of transport, energy and water;
Minimise unnecessary consumption, improve rates of recycling and promote the use of recycled materials wherever possible;

In particular, we will focus on energy efficiency, the purchase of renewable energy and the reduction of emissions from our fleet vehicles;
Over the longer term aim to reduce our indirect environmental impact by working with our value chain and promoting efficient and responsible behaviour from both our customers and suppliers; and
Raising awareness of environmental issues and promote responsible behaviour amongst our employees by engaging them through our “Green Team” of employee representatives, undertaking group wide initiatives and activities, and regularly conducting staff environmental surveys.

Renewable energy finance

We are an active provider of finance for the green energy and renewables sector, having lent over £750 million to schemes such as wind, solar and hydro power developments since 2014.