Sustainability in Action: MGISS’s Journey towards a Greener Future

Throughout my time at MGISS, I have learned many things, from navigating geospatial technology to adapting knowledge to an unfamiliar industry setting. Coming straight from university into a fast-paced working environment was a difficult adjustment, but I soon found my stride focusing on helping MGISS start its sustainability journey.

Corporate sustainability alongside Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become an integral part of business operations in the past decade. However, sustainability has always taken a backseat, only being recognised as an underlying benefit. Nowadays, it is considered a primary benefit and is often a necessary requirement for future adaption plans.

MGISS has been committed to helping their clients future-proof their assets, avoid disruptions, and deliver continued service to their customers. Whilst supporting these vital services, we are dedicated to protecting what is considered our greatest asset: the planet. Our solutions enable customers to become more sustainable, through increasing efficiency and data quality, whilst reducing emissions and minimising waste. However, there was a need to quantify these claims, which remains a key focus at MGISS entering 2023.

Following our sustainability review of 2022, I have summarised the following successes and commitments moving into 2023:

Main Successes:

• Reduction in overall emissions from 2021-2022 of approximately 36% using the Carbon Calculator developed by LJMU’s LCEI
• Created a benchmark for emissions for MGISS
• Achieved ISO 14001 Accreditation
• Launch of the IPAS project with ESA

Future Commitments:

• Continue to track and monitor our carbon emissions through the LCEI Carbon Calculator
• Continue work with LJMU’s ECO-I to quantify the carbon savings of our solutions
• Establish a carbon credit offset exchange with our environmental customers
• Aim for an 8% reduction in emissions in 2023

In 2022, a carbon footprint audit was completed in conjunction with Liverpool John Moore’s University Low Carbon Eco-Innovatory. This concluded that our carbon emissions saw an approximate 36% reduction compared to those estimated for 2021, with most emissions falling under employee commuting and managed assets vehicles as Scope 3 emissions. Additionally, we gained our ISO 14001 Accreditation for Environmental Management, meaning that, as a business, we comply with the expected standards to ensure environmental control of our assets.

Most recently, we signed a contract with the European Space Agency to undertake a 2-year project (IPAS) which is estimated could significantly reduce the 300,000 tonnes of carbon created through 1 trillion litres of water lost from the UK water utility each year.

From continuous tracking and monitoring of our internal business emissions and with increasing demand for sustainable solutions, we aim to become a reliable market leader in GIS mapping solutions, with a purpose-driven by the need to protect our world against the threat of climate change. However, with the help of ECO-I at LJMU, we must ‘practice what we preach’ and quantify the carbon savings of our solutions. Alongside MGISS customer case studies, we will be using the IPAS project to determine the actual carbon reduction impact provided by our solutions. We are committed to an 8% reduction in 2023 and carbon neutrality through offsetting engagement with our environmental industry clients and exchanging our solutions for carbon credits.

At MGISS, our whole purpose is driven by climate change:

“Improving lives through data-driven, sustainable infrastructure”

In an earlier blog post MGISS was progressing toward making its own carbon commitments. I can now say that we have committed to our 2023 goals and encourage others to start on their sustainability journey too.

Our website will be adding further information on our sustainability and ESG goals so watch this space!

About

Zoe joined MGISS part-time to supplement her Psychology degree. She developed in her role as Wellbeing Lead for the business which has received recognition by the BIMA 100. A self-described Jack-of-all-trades, master of none, Zoe has developed many skills working in different roles at MGISS from Market Research to Employee Wellbeing. She has now got her Sales & Marketing Coordinator hat on, allowing her to exhibit her efficiency in organisation, process and internal and external comms