Carbon reduction plan

About us

GoFibre is the trading name for Borderlink Broadband, a Scottish independent broadband builder and provider founded in Duns in the Scottish Borders in 2017. With rural areas, like Duns, being largely underserved when it comes to digital connectivity, GoFibre was born out of the need to solve this issue. It’s our mission to ensure that rural and harder to reach communities are not left behind. In our short history we have quickly established ourselves as the next big broadband provider, in particular for rural areas. Our unique wireless technology consists of over 100+ relay systems covering over 3500km², and growing! We have expanded our product range from broadband and are now pleased to offer VOIP phones, CCTV, and monitoring systems.

Commitment to achieving net zero

GoFibre is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Furthermore, through our Carbon Reduction Plan we are targeted to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2041. During this reporting year Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions at site or by organisation-owned assets) represent around 40% of the total in-scope emissions. Therefore, achieving the 2050 target will mostly require us to improve the vehicle fleet by changing to a renewable energy source. Further improvements across the three emission scopes will come about as a matter of course (via UK Gov targets and requirements, evolution of industries, new regulations etc.) and will require active engagement by us with our suppliers and staff as well as development of supply chain and operational policy. Since last year, we have seen good progress in the implementation and development of our Carbon Reduction Plan and we are confident that we can achieve business growth without the same subsequent increase in our emissions. During this reporting year, we have now started measuring our Downstream Transportation and Distribution emissions by monitoring the fuel usage of our contracted workforce in the delivery of equipment and parts to clients’ sites.

Baseline emissions footprint

Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.

Current emissions reporting

Emissions reduction targets

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets. We project that our Business As Usual (BAU) carbon emissions will increase over the next five years to 9,831 tCO2e by FY2026-27. This is a 11-fold increase in our BAU emissions due to the growth of our business. Our current strategy is to make emissions reductions via a 3-stage CRP and concluding with zero emissions by 2050/51 at the latest. It is our current intention to practicably minimise all emissions by 2040/41. From that point we aim to offset all residual emissions such that our carbon footprint defined by this PPN is zero from 2041/42 through to 2050/51. Therefore our target for 5 years from the Reporting Year is 7,475 tCO2e (a reduction of 24% against BAU). Progress against these targets can be seen in the graph below

Carbon Reduction Projects

To date we have endeavoured to provide electricity to small remote sites via on-site renewable energy such as solar and wind. Our current Carbon Reduction Plan includes the following initiatives; updates have been provided where relevant:

Switch all works vehicles to electric drive type (Mid, Corporate) - As electric vehicle technology improves, it should be both economically and sustainably advantageous to migrate to complete electric vehicle use. In the interim, selection of hybrid vehicles will provide a short-term solution. Update: Some of the fleet (14 Suzuki Swifts) are already hybrid vehicles. The company is moving from an owned to a hired fleet so this should facilitate the transition to more efficient vehicles. The selected vehicles however need to address the issues of range and charging availability so this still remains a mid-term objective.
Change electricity contract to 100% renewables at large sites (Short, Corporate) - For all main sites such as the depot, changing electrical supplier to 100% renewables will eliminate all Scope 2 emissions. Update: All directly purchased electricity is currently 100% nuclear via the EDF contract. While this cannot be claimed to be zero carbon (i.e., this requiring the transfer of the REGO agreement), it is still the company’s aim to purchase 100% renewable electricity. The current hike in unit rates caused by the war in the Ukraine currently limits the change in contract though.
Improvements in public transport (Mid, External) - It is assumed that local public transport will continue to improve their emissions through the use of electric/biofuel and hybrid surface transport as well as sourcing all rolling stock transport emissions from renewable sources.
Use of public transport for business travel (Short, Corporate) - For travel within the UK (and to within Europe to a reasonable degree) any essential air travel should be mitigated with sustainable surface transport such as rail. Update: The opening of the Edinburgh office has led many staff to move their usual place of work from Berwick (which is realistically only accessible by car) to Edinburgh where there are more options for public transport. Many staff are still homeworking with the average number of days commuting per week being a little under 2.3. The expansion of the business has however led to employment of staff from distant locations who still need to travel by car.
All business travel by car must be in electric vehicles (Mid, Corporate) - As the work fleet migrates to electric vehicles, the availability of business vehicles, all electric in type, should be introduced for any additional business travel that needs to be by car. Update: This will be updated as the available infrastructure and range of electric cars is improved.
Improved commuting practices (Short, Corporate) - Where practical to do so, commuting impacts should be minimised through a range of green commute solutions including increased usage of public transport, car share schemes, bike to work schemes, encouraging staff to use electric vehicles etc.
Improve upstream ordering predictions to batch individual deliveries (Short, Corporate) - This requires a smart approach to ordering materials by forward-looking project planning to create a smaller number of larger orders from suppliers. Naturally this creates a risk of storing excessive parts so this would require careful planning. Update: Work in progress.
On-site waste reduction program (recycling, composting bins) (Short, Corporate) - Currently in the UK, the average waste process does not create a significant reduction in environmental impact between recycling and combustion. Only the composting of food waste appears to significantly reduce the environmental impact of waste. However, councils are advancing their own waste management schemes so it is important to monitor processes in order to establish a low impact waste disposal process. Furthermore, specific waste handling methods for disposed cable should be sought to ensure that it is being repurposed/recycled in as efficient way as possible. Update: Now in waste contract with zero to landfill processes in place. Segregation takes place at Berwick site with council then doing an additional segregation.
Improvements in recycled waste handling (Mid, External) - This is the external expectation that council-managed waste handling processes will improve over time especially with regards to handling of recyclable waste.
Contractors to switch to electric vehicles (Long, External) - This is partially an external expectation though it may well be in the influencing zone for GoFibre to ensure that work carried by contractors is delivered via the use of electric vehicles especially where this represents a significant Scope 3 emission. Update: Still a long-term aspiration. Supply change excellence policy will introduce this as a quality to be assessed.
Convert remote sites to local renewables (Mid, Corporate) In progress - Some local facilities are already using renewable energy to power them. As this technology evolves it should be used expansively where practical to do so. Update: Work in progress to develop solutions as battery-backed up renewables still present a service risk for remote sites. We also anticipate these changes in UK industry which will help us to reduce our carbon footprint:

Improvements in public transport
Improvements in recycled waste handling Furthermore, in future we aim to improve our carbon emissions monitoring and to undertake a full carbon footprint

Carbon reduction plan

Sam Calvert

Chief Revenue Officer

06/01/2023