Testimonial - TMC

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Sami has been supporting TMC in measuring and managing its carbon data since 2023. Before that, were you already measuring your carbon footprint?

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TMC had started calculating its greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, but it was an internal initiative and lacked precision. Our first "serious" carbon footprint measurement dates back to 2023, with Sami.

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Why do you measure your carbon footprint? What are the key drivers ?

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There are 3 main reasons behind our commitment.
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The first is that it has become an essential competitiveness factor. Our clients and principals have high expectations regarding our sustainability performance, and it is simply inconceivable today not to work on measuring and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
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These expectations are also shared by our investors, making it a key element for our financing.
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Finally, our leadership has been championing the goal of improving our sustainability for several years now. It is an important factor for our employees, who want to work for a company that takes this topic seriously. And it is also a decisive factor in attracting new talent, I'm thinking in particular of young engineers who are increasingly aware of these issues.

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What key lessons have you learnt from the carbon assessment carried out with Sami?

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As a consulting firm, TMC's main source of emissions is business travel and commuting. This came as no surprise, but it was important to have precise figures on this data and to be able to track its evolution over the years.
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Sami organised workshops with our employees that were very useful.
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It was actually during one of these workshops that we realised hybrid cars are significantly less effective than fully electric vehicles which is obviously crucial for us given the weight of travel in our total emissions.

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Sami has been working with you in recent weeks to integrate the impact of AI into TMC's 2025 carbon footprint. Has the impact of AI become a key issue for you?

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Like many companies now, we use common tools such as Co-Pilot. But our consultants experiment with AI in our entrepreneurial lab.
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It is therefore necessary both to raise awareness among our employees about the carbon footprint of AI usage, and to be able, starting now and in the years ahead, to closely monitor the evolution of emissions generated by that usage.

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What are the main measures you have already put in place to reduce your emissions?

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Among the actions already underway, there is for example the electrification of the fleet in Belgium and the Netherlands. We have also introduced a bicycle plan to encourage our employees to commute by bike. We know this is also a way to promote their well-being. We also place a strong emphasis on raising awareness among our staff, for instance by sending them surveys that allow them to calculate their individual carbon footprint.

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What are the next steps in your climate strategy?

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Last year, the priority was to improve the quality of the data used to calculate our carbon footprint. This was an essential prerequisite before setting emissions reduction targets, as it is difficult to achieve those targets without having full control over our data and the ability to track its evolution.

We worked with Sami's consultants on this data improvement. Now that this is done, we are working this year on developing an ambitious yet realistic climate strategy, with an emissions reduction pathway and an associated action plan.

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There has been a lot of talk about an 'eco-backlash' in Europe in recent months. What is your view on this?

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In the Dutch market, companies, particularly large accounts, are increasingly expecting their business partners to be aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which is precisely the direction TMC is heading towards.
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Principals are the primary drivers of sustainability requirements and pull their entire value chain along with them. A growing number are implementing demanding responsible procurement policies and integrating sustainability criteria, including in the selection of their consultants, as we observe in our sector.
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The phase-out of combustion engine vehicles and fleet electrification remain also major topics.

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