Black & Veatch's 2024 Sustainability Report outlines the global infrastructure leader's significant progress on environmental and workplace goals

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., October 2, 2024 /CSRwire/ – Black & Veatch, global leader in critical human infrastructure

has released its 2024 Sustainability Report, detailing the employee-led company's rigorous progress toward achieving its key sustainability milestones and commitments, while leading customers to reduced carbon and water footprints and increased resilience become.

The company views sustainability as a critical business imperative, not just a corporate responsibility, and outlines its efforts to improve environmental and social impact in three interdependent areas: corporate initiatives, customer engagements and community engagement.

The comprehensive, transparent report – Black & Veatch's fourth – highlights the company's sustainability achievements and the challenges it addressed, including achieving its goals, reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 40 percent and reducing overall Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent (Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3, business travel), from the base year 2019 to absolute reductions, the use of renewable energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs).

Recognizing the need for ambitious but practical environmental impact measures, the company has expanded its net zero emissions targets and is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Scopes 1 and 2 and Scope 3 by 2050 in line with this achieve the Paris Agreement. To support the company's achievement of its new sustainability goals, it has also expanded its sustainability capabilities by investing in new tools, data and processes to enable progress tracking and decision making.

Additionally, recognized industry sustainability expert Deepa Poduval has been appointed as the company's dedicated global sustainability lead and a member of the executive team, underscoring the company's critical commitment to leveraging sustainability in its operations and decisions.

“As the world’s challenges become more complex, we must think bigger and be bolder. Challenge us. Make big bets,” said Mario Azar, chairman and CEO of Black & Veatch. “With this in mind, we have significantly restructured our operating model to be more customer-centric and more responsive to the future needs of the energy transition, including decarbonization, resilience and sustainability of critical infrastructure.”

“We track and report on the progress of our sustainability strategies to ensure transparency, increase accountability, increase trust among stakeholders and improve our business decisions,” said Poduval, senior vice president and global head of sustainability at Black & Veatch. “By expanding our talented team of professionals, innovating with a groundbreaking portfolio of engineering and construction solutions, and enduring the ability to operate stably over many decades, we will deliver on our new vision The Leader in sustainable infrastructure – an outlook that is explained in more detail in this report.”

Other highlights of the report include:

• The company met interim 2023 sustainability targets set in 2020. Black & Veatch's Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions decreased by 43 percent, while total measured greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 31 percent.
• Key drivers included reductions in aviation emissions (down 40 percent from 2019 to 2023) and a 70 percent decline in market-based emissions from electricity consumption through real estate optimization, renewable electricity purchases and renewable energy certificates.
• IgniteX – Black & Veatch's award-winning accelerator that won an EPIC award from the Department of Energy – has a cohort of seven startups specializing in areas such as AI technology, carbon capture and reduction, and sustainable food , helping to extend innovative solutions to critical human infrastructure.
• Black & Veatch has continued to advance its commitment to civic engagement and philanthropic efforts focused on communities, STEM and sustainability, with an emphasis on underserved and historically marginalized populations. The company's charitable efforts include sponsoring programs to combat human trafficking, a form of modern slavery, and Operation Breakthrough, a child and family development center in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The company donated approximately $1.5 million in matching donations in 2023 in the form of assistance and grants to the Hardship Fund, and the Black & Veatch Foundation donated a total of more than $29 million to the United Way and more than $5 million $1,000 in support for Children's Mercy Kansas City.

Editor's Notes:

• Black & Veatch's full 2024 Sustainability Report is available for download Here.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a 100 percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have been helping our customers improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most critical infrastructure assets. Follow us on www.bv.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram.

Media contact information:
JIM SUHR | +1 913-458-6995 P | [email protected]

Black and Veatch

Black and Veatch

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction firm with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenue in 2018 was $3.5 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

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