Global temperature rise is affecting weather patterns and the severity of weather events – what we all know as climate change. Using scientific principles, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated the amount of carbon reduction required between 2010 and 2100 to keep global temperature increases below a dangerous 2°C increase. Greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets that are established in accordance with IPCC’s methodology are considered “science-based.”
We are one of the first organizations that committed to developing science-based targets as part of a broader industry coalition led by We Mean Business. In 2017, using the methodology prescribed by the IPCC that takes into account our industry sector and economic contributions, we developed our new targets.
To date, between 2011 and 2016, we have maintained a strong pace of more than 5% absolute greenhouse gas reduction per year. This is a robust basis from which to set science-based targets: our absolute impacts have decreased alongside our improvement in carbon efficiency, measured and reported as normalized performance (per 1,000 sq. ft. of air-conditioned space).
To achieve these new long-term targets, we are developing an investment plan as well as seeking additional opportunities to continue incremental savings through retrofits and other energy conservation measures.
We advance environmental stewardship in all our operations and supply chain as part of the Planet pillar of PEOPLE PLANET PLAY. Our achievements in resource conservation and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation continue to lead the industry since we began our climate leadership journey in 2007.
The Environmental Protection Agency developed a system to track different types of greenhouse emissions, which are attributed to climate change. They are Scope 1, 2 and 3, and most companies generate emissions from all three. Scope 1 includes direct emissions, or sources of greenhouses gases that Caesars owns, like non-electric vehicles. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions, or sources of greenhouse gases that Caesars purchases, like electricity from utility companies. Scope 3 are emissions generated by other companies that are part of the Caesars’ supply chain, like food producers or linen suppliers. Caesars Entertainment has seen progress in the reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
As a global corporate citizen, Caesars Entertainment is dedicated to collaborating with other organizations to advance industry-wide and overall corporate climate leadership. More recently, we collaborated with global organizations committed to business leadership and policy alignment on climate issues.
We partner with CDP. Our efforts earned Caesars Entertainment a spot on the CDP’s Climate A List. Just 10% of the corporations participating in CDP’s climate change program are awarded a position on the A List. We’ve also extended our efforts into engaging our supply chain by asking key suppliers representing the largest portion of our supply chain’s carbon footprint to privately respond to CDP’s survey about their climate impacts.
As part of a multi-company initiative of the CDP, we are one of approximately 75 organizations that invite suppliers to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions data. We encourage key suppliers to share their information, and in 2017, several suppliers disclosed to CDP for the first time, bringing our response rate to 54% of the 150 suppliers we initially approached over three years ago. In 2017, we further formalized our commitment by including our supply chain as part of our science-based targets initiative and publicly committed that 60% of our suppliers by spend would institute science-based GHG reduction targets for their operations by 2023. We are now in the process of establishing our current baseline to measure performance, and our suppliers’ collaboration, going forward.
