Moody's Corporation

Carbon per million dollars of revenue. The legacy industry-standard reference (CDP, MSCI). Useful for cross-sector context, but distorted by margin — high-margin firms appear artificially efficient. Read alongside the operational and asset intensities for the full picture.

OpEx (operating expenditure) is the running cost of the business — staff, services, energy, materials. This shows how carbon-intensive operations are per million dollars of spend. Removes the margin distortion that revenue-based ratios introduce.

EVIC (Enterprise Value Including Cash) is the firm's total capital footprint — equity + debt + cash + minority interest. The EU's standard intensity measure (SFDR PAI 3) — answers: how much carbon does each million of capital deployed in this business produce?

PP&E (Property, Plant & Equipment) plus leased real-estate assets is the firm's physical infrastructure on the balance sheet. This shows the carbon intensity of that physical footprint — uses Scope 1+2+3 for consistency with the other headline intensities. Surfaces stranded-asset risk for asset-heavy firms.

Moody's procures 100% renewable electricity for its global operations annually through unbundled energy attribute certificates (EACs) including NAR RECs in North America, GOs in Europe, REGOs in the UK, I-RECs in Asia/Middle East/LatAm, and direct renewable utility contracts where available. In 2023, the company achieved this target for the fourth consecutive year at an investment of ~$53,488. The Environmental Sustainability Policy includes a formal commitment to 100% renewable energy. Procurement of renewable electricity is also modelled across NGFS transition scenarios to determine the ongoing cost of this commitment through 2040.

Moody's offsets remaining Scope 1, Scope 2 (market-based), business travel and employee commuting emissions annually, retroactively to year 2000. In 2023, the company cancelled 24,369 tCO2e across 10 projects (Gold Standard, VCS, ACR registries), including reforestation in Brazil (Envira Amazonia), US forest projects, and cookstove projects in Uganda and Ghana. The net-zero target commits to neutralising residual emissions with permanent carbon removals at end of 2040 target, with plans to purchase and cancel carbon credits for neutralisation; interim removal-type credits (forestation) are already being selected. No DAC or BECCS used to date.

• Hybrid work and remote working programme reducing employee commuting emissions

  Moody's PurposeFirst hybrid work programme maintains low levels of employee commuting, which contributed to a 70% reduction in employee commuting emissions between the 2019 base year (10,400 tCO2e) and 2023 (3,100 tCO2e). Technology-enabled work, enhanced digital capabilities and IT infrastructure for work-from-home are maintained by the CAO overseeing the global technology team. Employee engagement includes quarterly meetings for global office representatives to share best practices and a car-free week campaign.

• Office energy efficiency and hybrid work model

  Moody's has reduced energy intensity per square foot by 23% (from 11.7 kWh/sq ft to 9 kWh/sq ft) in 2023 through a combination of hybrid work, office space reduction, and building-level efficiency measures. Initiatives include raising temperature set-points in tech rooms, retrofitting air conditioning systems for lower GWP refrigerants, fitting common areas with LED lighting, timers and sensors, and limiting hot water from instant heaters. Total energy consumption decreased 18% from the prior year. The internal carbon price of $50/mtCO2e on business travel funds these initiatives.

• Internal carbon price on business travel to fund decarbonisation

  Moody's applies a mandatory internal carbon fee of $50 per tCO2e on business travel emissions across global operations. The price was set via benchmarking against industry peers and covers costs of carbon offset credits, renewable energy procurement, and achieving climate-related targets. Revenue from the fee is allocated to procuring 100% renewable electricity and other mitigation initiatives. The fee encourages employees to select lower-emission travel options such as trains over planes or economy over business class. Employee awareness campaigns (car-free week photo contests) supplement the price signal.

• Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions reduction: 50% by 2030 from 2019 baseline (SBTi near-term)

  Moody's near-term SBTi-validated target (set April 2022) commits to a 50% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 (market-based) emissions by 2030 from a 2019 base of 15,335 tCO2e. The target was achieved ahead of schedule: 2023 combined Scope 1+2 market-based emissions were 969 tCO2e, representing a 93.7% reduction (187% of the 50% target). The primary contributors were 100% renewable electricity procurement and the hybrid work model reducing building energy use. Target is 1.5°C aligned under GHG Protocol Scope 1 and 2.

• Supplier engagement programme to drive science-based targets across supply chain

  Moody's joined CDP's Supply Chain Programme in 2023 and organised webinars for its top 500 suppliers (representing 92% of total procurement spend) to encourage CDP disclosure and SBT adoption. An SBTi-validated supplier engagement target requires 60% of supplier spend to have SBTs by 2025; 54% achieved as of 2023. Priority suppliers receive engagement letters from the Executive Leadership Team and face contract amendments requiring SBT-setting. Moody's Sustainability Linked Facility ties loan pricing to progress on this target, generating $125,000 in annual savings in 2023 at 54% achievement.