The company that imports gas into the Isle of Man says it wants to be a ‘net zero’ business in the next 27 years.

Isle of Man Energy is part of the Island Energy Group, which has now published a group-wide sustainability strategy – Our Journey to Net Zero.

Including a sustainability framework and new science-based carbon emissions reporting processes, the strategy outlines the steps the organisation wants to take and deliver against ‘ambitious’ targets in becoming a more sustainable and community-focused business by 2050.

The changes come after a rebrand from Manx Gas to Isle of Man Energy last year, which was meant as a signal that it was moving from gas supply to energy management.

Islands Energy Group chief executive officer Jo Cox said: ‘The sustainability strategy outlines fundamental changes we must make as a group to reduce our environmental impact.

‘Every business is responsible for making positive sustainable change, and for us as an energy company, we know how significant our part to play in that is.

‘We have been taking care of the island’s energy needs for almost 200 years and our commitment to customers and the island remains unchanged.

‘Our customers remain at the core of our sustainable ambitions. Energy needs to move in a new low-carbon direction – it’s a priority for our customers, our employees, and our government, and we’re responding to that.’

Islands Energy Group has invested in its sustainability commitments with a dedicated sustainability team led by Alex Herschel, chief sustainability officer.

She said there were four pillars within the strategy, each outlining a key area to manage, monitor and reduce the company’s carbon emissions and support its customers to do the same, protect the environment and give back to the community.

‘Along with long-term goals to introduce new products and technologies, our strategy shows how we will explore exciting sources of energy such as renewable gas,’ Ms Herschel added.

‘We’ve also defined our carbon emission scope boundaries and targets because you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

‘One of the first steps we took on our journey to Net Zero was to set up a new carbon reporting framework to international standards so that we could robustly calculate our operational carbon footprint and that of the gas we supply to our customers.

‘This information then went into setting our Net Zero Action Plan and science-based carbon reduction targets for the business. We will release a sustainability report which will show how we’re doing against our sustainability performance targets and where we need to improve our performance.’