Strengthening emissions data integrity to support credible progress toward Net Zero

The Challenge

SBS has been measuring its greenhouse gas emissions since FY22, with a Net Zero by 2045 commitment and an SBTi-validated near-term target of 42% reduction by FY30 against an FY22 baseline. The foundations were already strong. The challenge was making the reporting more robust, more decision-useful, and more resilient over time.

With Scope 3 representing the vast majority of SBS’s footprint, the organisation recognised that moving beyond spend-based approximations, toward activity-based and supplier-specific data, would be critical to tracking real progress and influencing the right decisions.

Key challenge: Year-to-year changes in spend-based emission factors can materially raise or lower reported emissions even when underlying activity has not changed. This makes it genuinely difficult to demonstrate actual decarbonisation, or explain what is driving movement. SBS needed to understand and communicate these methodological effects clearly, while building toward data that would be less exposed to them.

The Solution

The focus was not on building a reporting system from scratch, but on strengthening what SBS had already built. 2XE worked as a technical partner to SBS’s sustainability and finance teams, supporting a targeted set of improvements:

• Stress-testing assumptions and methodologies against evolving industry standards
• Deepening understanding of how operating and finance data translates into Scope 3 impacts across content, technology, marketing and travel
• Reducing reliance on spend-based factors by expanding activity-based and supplier-specific data coverage
• Strengthening internal emissions literacy and analytical capability across the team
• Supporting clear and transparent communication of what was driving emissions movement, including the effect of changing emission factors

The Experience

SBS set the direction and pace. 2XE’s role was to bring specialist insight, to refine, challenge, and strengthen the approach as the programme matured. The engagement has been iterative since 2024, with each reporting cycle building on the last.

A deliberate emphasis was placed on internal ownership. Rather than a reporting-only engagement, the work was designed to grow SBS’s own capability and confidence in its emissions data, so that insights become actionable and progress is clearly attributable.

“Working with 2XE has helped SBS strengthen the integrity and usefulness of our emissions reporting. The partnership has supported deeper collaboration between our sustainability and finance teams, improved our understanding of Scope 3 drivers, and accelerated the shift from spend-based estimates toward more activity and supplier-specific data. This work has given SBS greater confidence in tracking progress toward our Net Zero by 2045 commitment and continuing to lead the industry in credible, transparent climate action.”

Abigail Thomas | Head of Sustainability | SBS

The Outcomes

SBS’s FY25 GHG profile reflects the cumulative effect of this work:

• 60% of total FY25 emissions calculated using activity or primary data
• 61% of Category 1 spend allocated to activity-based data, with only 39% remaining spend-based
• 45% of TV production spend measured using the albert carbon calculator, expanding from 2 productions in FY24 to 8 in FY25
• A doubling of vendors contributing supplier- or product-specific emissions data compared to FY24

With improved insight, SBS has also implemented practical initiatives including strengthened business travel controls and deeper supplier engagement through procurement.

Building towards something that lasts

The outcome is not a one-off report. SBS now has a more robust internal reporting system, stronger ownership of its emissions profile, and clearer visibility over the true drivers of change, across content, technology, marketing and travel.

As reliance on spend-based factors reduces, SBS’s reported emissions become less exposed to external methodological shifts and more reflective of actual operational performance. Each reporting cycle builds on the last.

2XE’s role has been to enhance the credibility and decision-usefulness of SBS’s emissions reporting, supporting SBS to track progress against its SBTi-validated targets with greater confidence, transparency, and influence over the drivers of change. This work ensures SBS’s Net Zero by 2045 commitment is underpinned by robust data, evolving best practice, and clear pathways for ongoing reduction.