Verisk is a leading data analytics provider with a focus on the insurance, energy, and financial services industries. Since several of the company’s business lines involve analysis of the effects of climate change, Verisk is highly attuned to the urgency of this challenge and has a strong commitment to environmentally responsible business practices. In 2017, Verisk approached 3Degrees to help it develop and execute a plan to address its global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through investments in energy attribute certificates and carbon offsets.
Challenges
Though the company is headquartered in New Jersey, Verisk’s energy load is heavily decentralized among offices in approximately 20 countries. The offices are leased not owned, often relatively small, and frequently situated in multi-tenant buildings, which makes it very difficult to address renewable energy needs directly. To add a layer of complexity, several of the company’s international locations are in markets with very limited, or newly developing, renewable energy instrument options. Finally, Verisk saw that a renewable energy purchasing commitment was consistent with the expectations of its stakeholders, and had the potential to positively influence employee job satisfaction, retention, and attraction. To strengthen this connection to employees, Verisk specifically requested that at least some of the projects be located in places where many of its 7,000+ employees would appreciate the connection.
3Degrees was undaunted by these criteria. With extensive experience navigating global energy markets and tailoring solutions to fit our clients’ specific needs, we were confident we could craft a high quality, cost-competitive renewable energy purchasing plan to achieve Verisk’s goals.
How we helped
We began by conducting an in-depth assessment of all available EACs in each market where Verisk’s various businesses have load. Because many of these markets offered limited or new, and therefore less familiar, options, 3Degrees performed detailed due diligence down to the project level.
After assessing the best options in each market that balanced cost with quality, we were able to propose and transact on a diversified portfolio approach of EACs and carbon offsets (when renewable energy was unavailable or did not make strategic sense in a market) that allowed Verisk to address its electricity emissions in each of the following countries:
Results
By executing a portfolio of high quality EACs and carbon offsets, Verisk achieved its goal of supporting renewable energy in the areas around the world where it conducts business and where the vast majority of its employees live and work. Importantly, this investment also enabled the company to demonstrate its commitment to climate action to its stakeholders, including its employees. Verisk has now made this commitment for five years (2017-2021), and expects to continue exploring renewable energy options beyond that.
“We were happy to work with 3Degrees to create a portfolio of EACs and carbon offsets to address our electricity emissions around the world. Given our decentralized footprint, it was important to us that we work with an experienced advisor. The team was highly knowledgeable and we felt very comfortable with the recommendations they proposed.”
