Tetra Tech Releases Our 2022 Sustainability Report and 2030 Goals
Sharing our achievements and progress toward meeting our environmental, social, and governance goals for 2030
Tetra Tech has made substantial progress toward our goal of improving the lives of 1 billion people by 2030, reporting a baseline of 411 million lives improved around the world.
Tetra Tech’s 2022 Sustainability Report, released on Earth Day, reaffirms our commitment to creating more resilient and sustainable communities. The report includes new baseline sustainability metrics for 2021, interim targets for 2025, and goals for 2030.
Our focus on sustainability began with our company’s founding in 1966, and we continue to support clients to develop innovative solutions that improve lives worldwide. The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles we apply to our projects are reinforced through our commitment to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact and Science Based Targets Initiative.
In 2021 we shared the results of our first decade of sustainability reporting—with achievements significantly beyond our original aspirations. There is still work to be done, and we are pleased to share our baseline and goals for a new decade of tracking our sustainability progress.
Setting a new baseline for improving 1 billion lives
Tetra Tech’s biggest impact on the world is through the more than 70,000 projects our highly connected network of scientists, engineers, and technical specialists perform each year across more than 100 countries. We leverage decades of multidisciplinary expertise, our Leading with Science® approach, and technology-driven solutions to help communities address complex current and future challenges, including the clean energy transition, climate adaption, carbon sequestration, water and biodiversity management, and food security.
We have initiated the first-of-its-kind measurement of the global impact of our projects and progress toward our 1 Billion People Challenge, reporting a baseline of 411 million people’s lives improved. We align our project impact analysis with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and track the ESG benefits of the projects we perform across five key metrics, reporting the following baselines:
- 328,000 megaliters of water managed to improve lives in communities around the world
- 16,800 megawatts of renewable energy generated to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future
- 178 million hectares of land and water ecosystems managed to help create resilient communities
- 20.6 million metric tons (MT) of CO2e avoided or captured to fight the impacts of climate change
- 35 million lives benefited from social and governance programs to support the most vulnerable communities
In this year’s Sustainability Report, we highlight projects from around the world that contribute to our baseline metrics. They are representative of the tens of thousands of projects we perform for our clients that improve lives each day.
Continuing our commitment to green operations
Tetra Tech also demonstrates our commitment to sustainability throughout our operations—from our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal to our use of technology to work more efficiently.
As part of our commitment to be Climate Positive & Carbon Negative, we are reporting on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and expanding the data sets included in each of these scopes. We are tracking our real estate footprint, maximizing space efficiency, and reducing our carbon footprint where possible. To measure impacts within our offices, we are tracking water consumption, renewable energy use, recycled paper use, and waste generated.
Through a continued focus on optimizing our global operations systems, our 2030 goal is to reduce our GHG emissions by 50 percent from our baseline of 2.16 MT CO2e per associate.
Supporting inclusive workplaces and communities
We recognize our 21,000 associates for their dedication to improving the lives in communities around the world. In 2021 we reaffirmed our commitment to nurture a thriving employee community by supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across our operations. We are tracking our progress toward workforce gender balance, racial and ethnic diversity, employee engagement, and professional development goals. Our global Employee Resource Groups (ERG) Program, which supports a collaborative culture where all voices are heard and all employees feel safe and can thrive, saw a 47 percent increase in employee participation during 2021.
A thriving community is a healthy community, and Tetra Tech is committed to the wellness of our associates. Our wellness initiatives include our annual Healthy Life Challenge, which encourages a healthy lifestyle for employees of all abilities through wellness and personal fitness goals. Beyond the 30-day challenge, our employees support each other’s fitness and wellness goals year-round through our virtual Healthy Life Community and participate in other wellness webinars and programs.
An employee community with a strong foundation can, in turn, give back to the communities where we live and work. Across our global operations, we support financial and in-kind giving, volunteering, and various community-based initiatives with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. In 2021 Tetra Tech associates donated more than $426,000 to community programs around the world.
Accelerating progress towards a sustainable future
The challenges of climate change to communities worldwide are significant. We remain optimistic that our science-based approach will help people, communities, and nations mitigate and adapt to the growing climate threats. We are committed to supporting our clients and communities through our sustainability goals—to be Climate Positive & Carbon Negative and improve the lives of 1 billion people.
On behalf of our 21,000 associates at Tetra Tech, we are committed to Leading with Science to support climate-positive actions and to partner with our clients to contribute to a healthier planet and more resilient future.
