Our Sustainability Strategy has been developed to ensure that everything we do at Orbit maximises our positive social and environmental impacts. It is an enabler of wider corporate strategy and aims to provide a holistic view of our sustainability approach across the business.
It has three environment-focused objectives:
Working towards net zero carbon.
Improving the quality of natural resources including biodiversity, land, water and air.
Managing resources, materials and products responsibly.
We are committed to following a science-based approach to reduce our direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Orbit published its detailed roadmap in November 2021. This set out our commitments to achieve Net Zero Carbon in our own operations by 2030 and in our homes and supply chain before 2050.
We have committed that 30% of our outdoor green spaces will be enabling nature's recovery by 2030. Developed by working with the Wildlife Trusts, our approach is both scientific and practical in its delivery, and aligns with the goal of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Wildlife Trusts' 30x30 campaign.
We are proud to be a co-founder of the Green Spaces Advisory Board, a pioneering cross-industry collaboration of seven housing associations and a leading grounds maintenance provider, aiming to unlock the potential of green spaces through actions, thought leadership, and collaboration. Under this we have conducted workshops and other engagements that have reached hundreds of practitioners across the built environment, sharing learnings from our approach and best practice around its focus on nature, people and scale.
We have created a habitat condition assessment tool in partnership with the Wildlife Trusts.
We aim to:
This will unlock value for Orbit and our customers whilst reducing our exposure to future resource insecurity.
We are working to create a better society, building affordable homes and communities, and doing so in more socially responsible and sustainable ways. All of this will be delivered in full acknowledgement of the global environmental crisis, ensuring that Orbit reduces its impact across homes, services and offices.
To help us achieve this, we have established our environmental sustainability programme, Orbit Earth. Under this programme, we will actively enhance our environment, creating and improving places and spaces for communities to thrive.
"Sustainability is integral to our 2025 strategy and we are proud to have established our net zero carbon roadmap and sustainability commitments, enhancing how we operate in a socially responsible and sustainable way. We will continue to adapt and shape this approach in order to maximise the positive impact we make as an organisation and to meet the challenges our customers and communities are facing. It is vital that Orbit does all it can to help support them and create a better society for the future through collaboration, both internally and across the social housing sector as a whole. Orbit’s sustainability strategy is embedded within our overarching Orbit 2025 strategy, and it will be central to achieving our vision."