Impact Report 2020
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IEMA - the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment - is the global professional body for everyone working, studying or interested in the environment and sustainability. This impact report sets out our 2020 positive contribution towards a sustainable future and how we're managing our own environmental footprint.
OUR CEO
OUR CEO
Sarah Mukherjee joined IEMA as CEO in June 2020. She was the BBC's Environment Correspondent for many years, presenting on national and international BBC radio and television news, working – and winning awards - across the world. Since leaving the Corporation, she has had leadership roles in utilities and agriculture. She was a panel member for the National Parks Review and sits on the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel. She is a Trustee of the Woodland Trust and a governor of Harper Adams University. Sarah has been a Campaign for Real Ale beer judge and a rugby reporter in the past - two activities she still enjoys - and is a runner and yoga addict.
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Resources
The Membership
A recognisable
mark of excellence
Number of professional members 11,021
Number of people who upgraded 316
How many exams we’ve processed 2,287
Number of people on a specialist register 691
Practitioner application turnaround time reduced by 47% and Full applications reduced by 12%
Continue to be a licensed body for CEnv with more than
1,640 CEnv members. IEMA has the most CEnvs registered of any licensed body and registers most CEnvs on an annual
basis
Our Partners
Our Partners
86 Training Centres with 17 Training Partners
225 Corporate Partners
71 Large Partners
38 SME Partners
116 SME Environmental Consultancies
35 University Partners
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Membership Countries
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IEMA is a global organisation with members in 112 countries
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Training Centres
Training Centres increased from 81 in 2019 to 86 in 2020
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IEMA’s Carbon
Reduction commitments
We continued to work towards Pledge to Net-Zero. We updated our GHG management hierarchy and applied this to the net zero challenge.
Our hierarchy approach has been widely adopted and utilised in ISO Climate Change guidance (ISO guide 84). We committed to:
IEMA’s Carbon
Reduction commitments
We calculated our own Science Based Targets in 2020 and set GHG emission reduction commitments against the 1.5-degree warming scenario to:
We also purchased carbon offsets in line with the UNFCCC scheme Climate Neutral Now.
View our targets and GHG performance here.
IEMA’s Carbon
Reduction commitments
Resources
Achieving Zero Carbon in the North West webinar- IEMA Sustainability Impact Award winners blog
- Climate-related financial disclosures
- Pathways to Net Zero: Using the IEMA GHG Management Hierarchy:
- 2020 reflections: Did you help to protect the planet?
- To view all resources please visit using a larger device
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IEMA’s Community
and Networks
IEMA Futures
Resources
IEMA’s Community
and Networks
IEMA Futures
Our Statistics
4 newsletters in 2020 with high engagement rates (opens, clicks, responses).
5 events in 2020 (4 virtual). An increase in attendees at events from approximately 150 in 2019 to more than 215 in 2020.
3 webinars in 2020, compared to 0 in 2019.
Network grew to 206 members compared to 83 in 2019.
Despite 2020 being a challenging year, we grew to have more than 200 IEMA members that dedicate their time to volunteering across our 19 Regional groups.
It was really great to see how the Regional networks fully embraced the transition from face to face events to digital. Having organised and hosted more than 50 diverse regional events, with 2,600+ bookings, these virtual sessions were really well received; connecting, supporting and inspiring members.
Really liked the local element to this
webinar, I found it refreshing that it was
covering the North West and hearing
about local initiatives is inspiring and empowering.
Member feedback
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IEMA Regions
Despite 2020 being a challenging year, we grew to have more than 200 IEMA members that dedicate their time to volunteering across our 19 Regional groups.
It was really great to see how the Regional networks fully embraced the transition from face to face events to digital. Having organised and hosted more than 50 diverse regional events, with 2,600+ bookings, these virtual sessions were really well received; connecting, supporting and inspiring members.
Really liked the local element to this
webinar, I found it refreshing that it was
covering the North West and hearing
about local initiatives is inspiring and empowering.
Member feedback
Resources
North West group takes activities online
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New Zealand networking
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Birmingham festive air quality presentation
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Achieving Zero Carbon in the North West
Innovating to Support the decarbonisation of the Northern Ireland Energy System
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South West Regional Event: Decarbonisation of heat in the food and drink sector
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Newcastle Event: SECR Compliance update, Carbon Footprinting and Climate Action
Fellows Network
The Sustainability Leaders Forum went digital, focusing on how leaders could enhance resilience for their organisations and sharing insights with members including interviews with John Elkington and Jane Davidson.
We released a thought piece on the value of collaboration for sustainable outcomes. The working group's insights on issues such as modern slavery and circular economy transition demonstrated the degree of transformative change resulting from strategic collaboration across the value chain.
The Fellows working group on disruptive technologies & the digital economy continued work on the thought piece launching in 2021, which examines the role of smart living in decarbonisation and sustainability
Knowledge, Insight
and Influencing
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Knowledge, Insight
and Influencing
Climate Change and Energy
We continued to support members on Climate Change and Energy, reflecting our ‘Emergency Declaration’. In a disrupted year, digital events welcomed more than 5,000 attendees, with headline speakers from the Committee on Climate Change and UNFCCC.
Our outreach covered newsletters, the Climate Action Toolbox, and on-line practice surgeries. Our GHG management hierarchy approach was also widely used, including in new ISO guidance and in 2020 we launched ‘Pathways to Net-Zero’. We also published EIA guidance on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience. IEMA continued to address the climate emergency, from our own operations through professional disciplines and by influencing policy and international standards.
Resources
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EIA Guide to Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation (2020)
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Pathways to Net Zero
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Pledge to Net Zero: A Guide to Pledging
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Pledge to Net Zero: A Guideto Setting a Science-based Target
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Carbon Offsetting and Climate Neutrality
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Climate Action, challenges, approaches and tools
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Electrification to Net Zero
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Achieving Net-Zero – UK progress
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Climate Change Action through Environmental Management Systems
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Climate Risk and Financial Disclosures - Guidance on TCFD
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World Environment Day: The changing economy of trees
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Communicating Climate Change
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J. Coffey Construction - Journey to Net Zero
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Erebus Environment: Working towards Net Zero with Avon Fire & Rescue Service
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NHS Newcastle Hospitals: first healthcare organisation to declare a climate emergency
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2020 reflections: How to reduce carbon emissions further in 2021
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Knowledge, Insight
and Influencing
Sustainable Finance
Sustainable Finance is rapidly developing to support innovative business models that resolve the sustainability challenge; tackling poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation and aiming to grow equitable prosperity.
However, the lack of globally agreed definitions and varying interpretations of what constitutes good practice causes confusion and erodes market confidence. IEMA networks and working groups collaborated to inform IEMA consultation responses on the BSI and ISO level standards. The standards seek to enhance understanding of key sustainability principles, practices, and terminology. We supported this with a sustainable finance webinar series providing key regulatory updates, including the impact for the sustainability profession of the EU taxonomy and disclosure regulations.
We worked jointly with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries to publish a user-guide on climate-related financial disclosures.
Resources
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Knowledge, Insight
and Influencing
Circular Economy
Circular economy attracts interest worldwide, evidenced by numerous government strategies, business commitments and partnerships.
In 2020 we launched a new member resource, the Extended Resource Ownership Model which considers design, procurement,
sustainable business, remanufacturing and increasing circularity of materials. It is coupled with bite sized explanations, enabling practitioners and academics to share with non-specialists. We progressed our policy engagement with the UK government on the resource efficiency. Following member workshops, we submitted our response to DEFRA calling for increased ambition of the targets, accompanying this with a sector road map of commitments. We hosted 8 webinars, with examples and recommendations on integrating CE into organisations, from the role of the CE in providing capacity building to SMEs to a case study on Circular Public Procurement.
Resources
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Circular Economy in Practice: Extended Resource Ownership model
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Circular Economy in Practice: Circular Public Procurement
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Using the CE to provide businesses with a competitive edge
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Circular Economy 101: An introduction to sustainable resource & waste management
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How the UK resources and waste sector can deliver a green recovery
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How to integrate CE principles into road infrastructure projects
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Knowledge, Insight
and Influencing
Corporate Sustainability
The Covid19 pandemic proved there is a need for building better economic and business models that work for all. Corporate Sustainability seeks to support such transformations, encompassing considerations including ethics, collaboration, innovation, organisational purpose and longer-term business framing.
In 2020, Mike Barry, former Director of Sustainable Business for M&S, outlined personal perspectives for embedding change and how professionals can help influence new models for business. Inder Poonaji, championed ‘ethical resilience’ as a morally conscious decision-making process. Dr Victoria Hurth outlined common deep-seated assumptions about how a company relates to the economy and society and whether they can transition to being purpose-driven.
Resources
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The Value of Collaboration for Corporate Sustainability Outcomes
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Critical insights to shape sustainable businesses and organisations ‘post Covid’
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Corporate Sustainability: Making the choice for Ethical Resilience
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Climate-related financial disclosures
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Corporate Sustainability – Deepening our understanding of organisations and purpose
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Impact of Social Value: British Standard 8950
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IEMA response to BSI Guide on enhancing social value – BS8950
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Impact of Social Value: Embedding Purpose in Company Statutes
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Human Rights Due Diligence: How SMEs are best placed to meet the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights
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Social Value: Uncovering the interface between environmental measurement and social value
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Impact of Social Value: British Standard 8950
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Impact Assessment
2020 was incredibly productive with numerous webinars, four Outlook Journals, four IA Guides, and the launch of four new working groups on SEA, Marine Impact Assessment, Soils and Land, and Post Consent Management and Monitoring.
We elected 5 new members to the Steering Group, including a new Chair, and the Network grew by over 50%. We responded to government consultations on environmental data, planning for the future and IA reforms, and continued to advocate for high quality environmental impact assessment.
We go into 2021 with a full programme of activities and a strong network of volunteers and partners with the shared vision of high-quality IA contributing to the transition to a sustainable future.
Resources
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Digital Impact Assessment Primer
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Impact Assessment Outlook Journals
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Major Accidents and Disasters in EIA
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Considering Greenhouse Gas Emissions in EIA
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Webinar on the Government consultation on ‘Planning for the Future’
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Insights on Interdisciplinarity: IA, EM and Auditing
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EIA Spotlight: Demystifying Cumulative Effect Assessment
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Land and Soil Inputs to EIA
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Environment Bill
Last year, we continued our work on the Environment Bill as it re-entered Parliament. The Bill creates a key part of the post-Brexit environmental governance framework that will shape how the environment is managed.
Our Director of Policy and External Affairs, Martin Baxter discussed key aspects of the Bill in meetings with Defra Secretary of States George Eustice and Theresa Villiers, Minister Rebecca Pow and the Treasury Exchequer Secretary Simon Clarke and gave evidence before MPs during the House of Commons Committee stage. We were delighted to see our proposals for legally binding long-term targets included in the Bill and we’re working with Defra policy teams on the processes to implement the key provisions. We continue our work on the Bill as it passes through Parliament.
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Biodiversity and the
Natural Environment
We continued to underpin Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) across all areas of professional practice. Our collaboration continued with partners including CIEEM as we engaged with the development of a new British Standard 8683, hosting member workshops and collating a response into the public consultation. We also piloted masterclass BNG training with excellent feedback and demand.
Other natural environment work considered so called ‘nature-based’ solutions, such as the role of forestry and peatland for carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services. This included webinars on the woodland carbon code (WCC) and interest in the potential for combining the in-practice use of such schemes alongside biodiversity net-gain.
Interest in natural environment developments continued to grow, especially with UK Environment Bill developments and forthcoming policy opportunities in UK land management support.
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Environmental Auditing and
Environmental Management
During 2020, IEMA sought to highlight the importance of Environmental Management (EM) by hosting a comprehensive webinar series starting with the basics of EM, but also highlighting the interconnects between this discipline and other areas such as climate change or impact assessment.
Due to the disruptions brought about by Covid-19 to environmental auditing, we also focused several webinars in our Adapting to Covid-19 series on the changes to the discipline, including the transition to Remote Auditing. In addition, we released two new briefing documents. ‘The Value of Environmental Auditing’ details how an organisation can embed and benefit from effective environmental audits, to ensure good environmental management in order to build back better for a green recovery. The second, the ‘Golden Rules of Remote Auditing’, provides details on the key considerations to be made when planning and conducting audits remotely.
Resources
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Value of Environmental Auditing guide & 10 Golden Rules of Remote Auditing guide
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Adapting to COVID-19: ISO 14001 accredited certification – changes to surveillance audits and certificate renewal assessments
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Adapting to Covid-19 - Remote Auditing
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Environmental Auditing 101: An introduction to the key principles
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Environmental management 101: back to basics
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Environmental management: update on environmental management systems standards
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Adapting to COVID-19 - Impact on Extended Producer Responsibility
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Climate Change Action through Environmental Management Systems
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Insights on Interdisciplinarity: IA. EM and Auditing
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Case study of Nuclear Power using IA, EM and Auditing
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SiLC scheme: Promoting confidence in Brownfield risk management and reporting
IEMA Profile
Behind the dominance of the COVID pandemic, the crises of the climate emergency and the global threat to biodiversity rose in prominence. IEMA was well placed to contribute to the debate, basing its communications on its distinctive mix of policy development, advocacy, and knowledge.
IEMA’s approach combined a blend of communications channels through TRANSFORM, social media and wider PR. Key themes included the progress of the Environment Bill (CEO quoted in BBC News in reaction to a speech by Environment Secretary of State, George Eustice) and promotion of IEMA’s own activities. In 2020, the IEMA Sustainability Impact Awards ceremony went digital with more than 300 attendees. Furthermore, all events went online with 200+ webinars and regional events with 20,000+ attendees.
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Inclusivity and
Diversity
IEMA Code of
Professional Conduct
Strive to ensure equality of opportunity and respect diversity in my professional activity. This means I will:
Treat others fairly.
Strive to ensure equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion, supporting human rights and dignity.
Act in a way that safeguards the physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing of others.
Be respectful of the customs, practices, culture and personal beliefs of others in my professional activity.
Inclusivity and
Diversity
Our Statistics
3.1% of environment professionals identified as minorities compared to 19.9% of all occupations who identified as minorities.
9% of UK students in higher education studying direct feeder subjects to environment professions identified as non-white minorities compared to 22% of UK students in higher education who identified as non-white minorities.
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Resources
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Build Back Better: Putting sustainability at the heart of the recovery
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10 Golden Rules of Remote Auditing
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Adapting to Covid19
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The new normal – what does that look like?
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IEMA Futures: Hiring a graduate during Covid-19
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Lessons from the past on Building Back Better
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#BuildBackBetter - The Role of Blockchain in supporting business
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Circular Economy in Practice - #BuildBackBetter - How the UK resources & waste sector can deliver a green recovery
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West of Scotland Session 3: Learning from the Environmental Impacts of COVID-19
Build Back Better
Finances
Finances
We will publish our Directors’ Report and Accounts for 2020 on completion of our external financial audit and sign-off from the Board.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic is a significant health and economic crisis, we took action to minimise adverse risks to staff and the organisation. Overall, the income budget for 2020 was achieved and costs were below budget due to actions taken to halt discretionary expenditure.
