Bloomberg’s Sustainability Path: Leading the Way From Pledge To Practice

Originally published on bloomberg.com

As the focus on climate change intensifies, companies are increasing their public commitments to minimize risks and maximize opportunities that result from it. This is driven by a clearer understanding of the need to address climate change and by the growing demands of a wide range of stakeholder groups – from customers and employees to investors, policymakers, NGOs, and activists. With the newly created Global Sustainability Office, which is tasked with incorporating environmental, social, and governance considerations company-wide, Bloomberg is preparing to manage the resulting complexities and meet the challenges ahead.

Roll-out of new company-wide global sustainability strategy

Bloomberg is ramping up its plan to achieve its own climate commitments and is refreshing its company-wide, global sustainability strategy. “We are well positioned to lead in the climate space, and that requires dedication to setting validated short- and long-term corporate targets toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In our case, we have gone beyond and set a target to operate with net zero emissions across relevant areas of our value chain by 2040, ten years ahead of the 2050 Paris Agreement timeline,” says Amy Springsteel, Bloomberg’s Chief Sustainability Officer, who recently joined the firm and is responsible for helping the company develop and execute its strategy.

In addition to meeting net zero commitments, the strategy focuses on managing sustainability-related risks and opportunities beyond the environment. While climate change remains a significant issue globally, Bloomberg’s commitment to sustainability is not restricted to just one topic. There are also social and governance pieces, such as establishing clear oversight and accountability for sustainability across the business, working to identify and prevent human rights abuses within the company’s supply chain (such as child labor or human trafficking), and that robust cyber security and data privacy systems are in place to protect clients’ personal data.

“Global sustainability is inclusive of the full set of E, S, and G data categories. The approach to managing a company responsibly and sustainably includes E: efficient use of natural resources, S: effective management of relationships with key stakeholders, and G: fair and ethical corporate governance and business practices,” says Springsteel.

Sustainability focus stretches beyond strategy

What comes next after understanding material impacts, risks, and opportunities, is accordingly, developing our strategy. “We are preparing for upcoming changes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and disclosure,” says Springsteel. The demand of both publicly listed and private companies to issue more disclosure across a broad range of ESG topics has increased exponentially. Mandates in EMEA, APAC, and now the US have prompted companies to rethink how they disclose information relevant to the management of ESG factors. “The emergence of a regulatory environment is new in the sustainability space. As we develop our new strategy, we’re also preparing for how we will publicly communicate our progress on it. That now includes not just our voluntary annual sustainability Impact Report, but also the information we will provide to various jurisdictions that require it,” says Springsteel.

Integrating sustainability into our business operating model and corporate culture

Bloomberg is continuing to integrate it into its business operating model, product offerings and corporate culture. “We’ll be supporting key departments in helping their teams see sustainability as an integrated component of the way they approach their jobs, meet their goals, and serve clients. We will strive to demonstrate how approaching their objectives through a sustainability lens can enhance their work, helping them identify potential risks and opportunities they might otherwise miss,” says Springsteel.

Once these foundational pieces are in place, Springsteel and her team will engage with employees to raise awareness on how sustainability can be applied in their personal lives and contribute on an individual level toward the company’s goals.

“We believe that addressing sustainability from multiple angles reinforces it as an integral part of our business culture, a channel to add business value, and a tool to foster a dynamic work environment, especially for candidates interested in solving some of today’s most pressing sustainability challenges,” says Springsteel.

Supporting others on the path to sustainability

Addressing sustainability from multiple angles includes mutually beneficial engagement with external stakeholders. “We recognize these issues are too complex for any one company to solve, so we’re convening with government and policymakers, as well as other corporations, business partners, non-profit organizations, and vendors to think through these myriad complex issues and work together to find solutions,” says Springsteel. “The complexity also works in our favor as it presents an opportunity to innovate products and services that help clients address their own climate challenges, to consider ESG factors when making business and investing decisions, and prepare to meet the new regulatory reporting requirements,” says Springsteel.

Bloomberg’s on track to meet near-term climate targets

Bloomberg has made progress toward meeting its near-term and long-term climate targets, as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In 2023, Bloomberg reduced its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 21% (toward the 2030 target of 80%) and Scope 3 emissions by 27% (toward the 2030 target of 30%) from a 2018 baseline.

Bloomberg is also on target to meet its pledge to purchase 100% of its energy from renewable sources by the end of 2025 as part of its commitment to the Renewable Energy 100 (RE100) initiative.

In 2023, 62% of Bloomberg’s global electricity consumption was obtained from renewable sources. “With our recent 80 MW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with clean energy developer Ørsted for renewable energy generated by the Mockingbird Solar Center, we will move closer to our 2025 target while reducing our emissions,” says Springsteel.

With meaningful progress already achieved in addressing climate change, and a broad, company-wide sustainability strategy in progress, Bloomberg is poised to scale new heights as a sustainability leader in the coming years.

Read our Impact Report to learn more about our sustainable operations.