Climate Strategy
BCG started the journey in 2018 with the measurement of their carbon emissions. They set an initial net-zero strategy in 2020, including near-term science-based targets. Their pledge is to achieve net zero climate impact by 2030 by:
Reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions by 92% per FTE by 2025 (vs. 2018 levels)
Reducing scope 3 business travel emissions by 48.5% per FTE by 2025 (vs. 2018 levels)
Removing the remainder through high-quality, high-impact credits by 2030
BCG has quantified and publicly communicated the price they expect to pay to reduce, avoid, and remove emissions as the firm works toward net zero. Beyond 2030, their ambition is to remove more carbon than they emit each year.
Challenge
BCG has a clear focus to reduce emissions across their value chain, with a focus on business travel which represent about 80% of their 2018 baseline and are mainly driven by air travel. BCG has been implementing different measures to reduce travel intensity in pursuit of their 48.5% reduction goal by 2025. Yet, as a global company with client-facing business across 90 offices, their core business activities rely on traveling and being in person with clients. Therefore, BCG will still have unavoidable emissions which they have committed to removing with high-quality solutions to achieve net zero.
“We believe companies need robust strategies to reduce and remove carbon emissions across their value chain. For BCG, this includes 'leaning in' to the carbon removals market to promote innovation, provide needed capital, and press for high quality removals. We are glad to be able to partner with Climeworks on their journey to scale this market.” David Webb, Chief Sustainability Officer, BCG
“We believe companies need robust strategies to reduce and remove carbon emissions across their value chain. For BCG, this includes 'leaning in' to the carbon removals market to promote innovation, provide needed capital, and press for high quality removals. We are glad to be able to partner with Climeworks on their journey to scale this market.”
David Webb, Chief Sustainability Officer, BCG
Solution
BCG and Climeworks worked together toward a multi-dimensional solution which resulted for BCG in:
A high-quality building block for their carbon portfolio: Climeworks passed BCG's strict selection criteria for high-quality carbon removals, including additionality, permanence, technology readiness and potential at scale.
An operational CDR provider: Climeworks is a unique solution offering to BCG high-quality CDR volumes via DACS (Direct Air Capture & Storage) from an operational plant in Iceland, with proven ability to deliver.
A strategic fit for impact: BCG wants to support high-impact, permanent, and scalable engineered CDR solutions. They are doing so with Climeworks, both by being a CDR buyer and supporting them through BCG's consulting services.
A strengthened climate leadership: As one of the leading global consulting firms, BCG is well positioned to send a strong demand signal for high-quality CDR and is committed to leading by example with Climeworks and other selected players.
Key success factors
Shift perspective: anticipate the longer-term
BCG used to purchase carbon credits on an annual basis to offset their emissions from the previous year. But delivering on their net-zero goals required a shift toward multi-year offtake agreements for CDR. As an advocate for high-impact solutions, BCG understood that buying CDR with Climeworks is a strategic investment for the mid and longer term, both for them to secure future supply, and to support the scale-up of the high-quality CDR market overall.
Start early with CDR solutions
Once the strategic focus was set on nascent, high-quality CDR technologies with scale potential, BCG engaged with many CDR players to identify the right solutions to start their portfolio: with sufficient volumes over the right timeframe, and the ability to move down the cost curve. Beyond the due diligence, engaging with different suppliers enabled BCG to build their own CDR expertise and thought leadership. Committing to the CDR market is a journey. which they did not want to delay. Broad engagement and learning as they went was critical to developing their approach.
Look beyond price, to focus on value
At first sight, buyers can perceive the prices of solutions as challenging. BCG recognized that high-quality CDR is required and comes with a premium price point. They put this into perspective:
The value is multi-dimensional: Beyond the quality, value also comes from the proven ability to deliver volumes and the long-term scalability of the solution to gigaton scale.
DACS is still a new industry and requires higher costs until it reaches a certain scale: Firms like BCG can play an instrumental role in bringing those solutions down the cost curve and shaping the market by becoming early off-takers.
“Permanently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is critical to achieving net zero globally and to combatting climate change. We need to foster innovation that can be scaled in this space and we're proud to be playing a leading role here as an early adopter.”
Cornelius Pieper, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG
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