Marine Plant Hire becomes the first specialist marine contractor to reach Scope 1 and 2 carbon neutrality under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol framework.
Marine Plant Hire (MPH), a UK provider of marine services and vessel hire, has announced a landmark achievement, becoming the first specialist marine services business to reach carbon-neutral status across Scope 1 and 2 emissions under the industry-recognised framework governed by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
The certification marks a major sustainability milestone for the UK marine contracting sector. MPH, which provides specialist marine plant, equipment and experienced operators to infrastructure and coastal development projects across the UK and mainland Europe, is now being positioned as a standard-setter for environmental performance in the workboat and marine civils market.
The move is also expected to encourage others operating in the same space to follow, accelerating the marine sector’s progress towards the UK’s wider ambition of reaching net zero by 2050.
To achieve carbon neutral status (scope 1 and 2), an organisation must have measured and offset all direct and indirect greenhouse emissions from its own operations and energy use.
MPH achieved this through offsetting a total of 81 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) by voluntarily investing in credits that support the Bank Farm Regenerative Project – a UK sustainability initiative that is also backed by prominent brands including Waitrose & Partners, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest.
Rich Eggleton, Managing Director at Marine Plant Hire, comments: “Achieving carbon neutral status for our scope 1 and 2 emissions is a major milestone for the business and a clear signal of where marine plant hire is heading. We operate in an environment where heavy plant, barges and tugs are essential to delivering safe and efficient water-based projects, but we’re also realistic about the impact that comes with that kind of power and capability. That’s exactly why we’ve taken action now. This is about raising standards, protecting the waterways we work on every day and helping our customers deliver projects with greater confidence in their environmental performance.”
Ashley Webber, Director at Balanced Energy, the environmental consultancy that awarded the carbon neutral status (scope 1 and 2), adds: “Achieving carbon neutral status for scope 1 and 2 emissions is a major landmark and strong statement of intent. It shows that MPH has taken the time to measure its impact properly and act on the areas it can control. Just as importantly, it helps set a new benchmark for the marine sector, which proves that practical and credible progress is achievable. MPH should be congratulated for showing strong, sustainability-led leadership and helping build momentum for wider change.”
