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We are committed to reducing our own emissions and accelerating change in the wider world.
Content, analytics and commitment
We use data combined with content and subject expertise to gain unique insights into how research can accelerate efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. As a company, we are committed(opens in new tab/window) to the rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.
Being a responsible business
We are fast reducing our direct and indirect emissions with the goal of becoming Net Zero by 2040, with additional ambitious milestones in place for 2025 and 2030. To help with this, our parent company RELX has developed an in-house reporting tool, the RELX CO2 Hub(opens in new tab/window).
Elsevier’s Climate Action program’s ambition is to identify and put in place the actions that will accelerate progress towards delivering on the RELX targets. We are aiming to be net zero for all emissions by 2040 and are in the process of setting specific Elsevier science-based targets for emissions.
Fostering a sustainability mindset within Elsevier
In 2021, Elsevier set a business travel target to reduce business travel emissions by 50% against a 2019 baseline
We hold certification to the ISO 14001:2015(opens in new tab/window) standard for our environmental management systems at 27 office locations. This equates to 55% of our business by employee count, indicating an efficient use of resources and reduction of waste.
98 employees have joined our new employee resource group “SUSTAIN” to help create and foster a sustainability mindset within Elsevier.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
250 Elsevier colleagues joined the First Elsevier Climate Race, together taking 1500 specific actions to achieve an estimated saving of 124 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
We also launched Press Zero, a dedicated project to reduce print copies starting with promotional copies that has already saved around 37,000 copies of journals equivalent to 471 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate action depends on increasing the understanding of climate change and its impact on our world. Our job is to support the scholarly dialogue on climate change and its impacts though unique content, data and products. This includes a focus not just on climate change, but where climate research intersects in areas such as health, food production and clean energy.
"Ensuring that research is communicated effectively, grounded in real world examples, and acted upon by the right people, is one of the great challenges we are facing"
In our books team, we have created an “Energy with Purpose” mission to ensure all newly contracted titles positively contribute to the energy transition.
Content for change
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The 2021 Lancet Countdown(opens in new tab/window) on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future was published, representing the views of 43 academic institutions and UN agencies.
All 24 Lancet journals joined 250 health journals in issuing an editorial(opens in new tab/window) in advance of COP 27 with global press coverage and an endorsement by the United Nations.
Addressing climate change is complex and requires collaboration across our wider publishing sector. Yet the road to action is not always clear. Organizations such as the International Publishers Association, and national associations such as The Publishers Association (UK) are helping to drive the climate change agenda within our sector. In 2021, Michiel Kolman, the former IPA President and current chair of the Inclusive and Literacy Committee hosted the first IPA Sustainability Summit at Frankfurt Book Fair. This marked the first-time trade associations and publishers from across the supply chain came together to discuss the opportunities and challenges we collectively must overcome to address climate. The event followed the Joint COP 26 statement(opens in new tab/window) to take action on climate.
Closer to home, in 2022, we will be actively sharing our net zero goals and progress to hear and learn from editors, authors, society partners and customers how we can collectively achieve a more sustainable future.
