Since they began, the Green Team has spearheaded Itad’s drive for greater climate action, from green-roots beach cleans to applying a climate lens to all our monitoring, evaluation and learning work and becoming carbon neutral by 2023.
The Team actively collaborates with Itad’s leadership and staff to mainstream green considerations into our work and the decisions we make every day.
What role does the Green Team play within Itad and our wider work?
Many of the countries expected to be most affected by the effects of pollution, global warming, biodiversity loss and resource depletion are also home to marginalised and vulnerable communities.
Itad mission is to ‘have a positive impact on people and the planet’; reflecting on this, we asked what we can do as a company to be part of the solution to these problems, rather than exacerbating them.
This includes:
- Reducing the carbon footprint of our business operations, which is currently largely due to international travel.
- Integrating sustainability concerns into our projects to support our clients and partners to make future-proof decisions that help build strong, resilient communities.
What are the biggest successes of the Green Team so far?
There are many things we’ve achieved that we are proud of! If we had to choose two, they would be achieving carbon neutrality in 2021, and switching to a more environmentally- and sustainably-conscious pension platform in 2022.
We are particularly proud of these two successes because – by allowing staff make more climate-conscious decisions about our pension scheme and where we invest our carbon credits – they engaged every individual while also driving an impact on the planet bigger than one a single person could have.
What is the Green Team hoping to achieve over the next year?
By the end of 2023 we have two significant goals:
- We aim to become carbon-negative by reducing our emissions to as close to zero as possible and, through our continued partnership with Earthly, to offset our unavoidable emissions. We will also further engage in rehabilitation activities through pro bono work.
View our carbon emissions plan
- We aim to integrate a sustainability lens across our projects in order to support an industry-wide commitment for ‘green MEL’.
Read more about our work on climate mainstreaming
Who makes up the Green Team?
The core team of Itad’s Green Team is made up of four people who are in charge of the implementation of the company’s environmental ambitions. They are supported by the wider Green Team who act as a sounding board and support ad-hoc tasks and initiatives.
Meet the core team…
Sarah Lamb is a Senior Project Officer and she leads the Team.
Georgie Hahn is a Business Development Commercial Officer
I’ve been a member of the Green Team since its formation. I believe everyone can do something to ease the climate crisis, no matter how small. Working in Business Development means I can help identify opportunities for greener ways of working in future projects which is really rewarding.
Giovanna Voltolina is a Consultant in Itad’s Knowledge Hub, she joined the Green Team in 2019.
Daan Schuttenbelt is a Consultant in the Inclusive Growth and Climate change practice.
“I joined the Green Team because I think it’s important to encourage green practices at all levels. It can feel more tangible to implement them internally, but it is also important to ensure our technical engagement aligns with the impact of our work with our green ambitions.”
