Under the new 2030 Sustainability Strategy, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew will work to reduce emissions directly in line with a science-based pathway. There is a target to reduce ‘core’ emissions by 46.2% by 2030, against a 2019-20 baseline. Sources included in ‘core’ emissions are direct (Scope 1), power-related (Scope 2), emissions from business travel, employee commuting, investments, waste and water and fuels. A target for non-core or ‘visitor-related emissions is currently under development.
Activities planned to reduce emissions include increasing on-site renewable electricity generation, upgrading vehicles to electric, installing heat pumps, fitting energy-efficient lighting and phasing out single-use plastics from food and drinks outlets.