Our approach to the environment
As a branchless bank, we avoid the emissions associated with running a large network of buildings, But, as one of the fastest growing banks in the UK, and with expansion plans for the EU and US, we know that our Greenhouse Gas(GHG) emissions will grow quickly. We also know that the majority of emissions in our GHG emissions inventory come from our supply chain. So, we’re talking with our suppliers to understand their environmental goals and how we can work together to reduce our collective impact on the environment
Our environmental commitments
Net zero emissions means measuring the footprint of our entire value chain, reducing emissions as much as possible, and removing the rest.
We measure and report on our carbon footprint in full, every year, and share the results publicly in our annual report.
We have strong governance for our environmental work, with regular reporting to our executives and our board, both of which have representatives responsible for our climate policy.
We don't invest in fossil-fuels, arms or tobacco companies. Our Treasury is governed by an ESG framework so investments align with our environmental goals. More information on how we invest customer deposits.
Being transparent, and not cutting corners
We know that the terminology around the climate crisis and environmental policies can be complicated and difficult to understand. We also know that complexity can be used by companies to hide the extent of their environmental impact, or to make commitments sound stronger than they are. So like everything else we do at Monzo, we want our approach to be simple and transparent, so that everyone can understand it and engage with it.
With that in mind, we will
Measure our carbon footprint comprehensively and to a market leading standard. We’ll always publish our full carbon footprint on our website, including scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Scope 1 covers things that we own, that directly emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Scope 2 covers the electricity that we purchase, which generates greenhouse gases while being produced. Scope 3 refers to emissions incurred by suppliers of goods and services provided to Monzo (another way of putting is emissions from things that we purchase). Scope 3 emissions represent the majority of our carbon footprint, so it’s critical that we measure them comprehensively.
Ensure our net zero emissions commitment and other targets reflect our whole carbon footprint. We won’t disguise our progress by using terms like carbon neutral, or by limiting the measurements to only part of our overall emissions.
Make sure everyone can understand our environment work, by being fully transparent, and making information clear and accessible. We’ll avoid technical language whenever possible, and always explain it where it appears. If you have a question about our environmental work, you can ask us directly at sustainability@monzo.com
We’re using experts to help us ensure our work is the best it can be
Watershed
To help us build our environmental programme, we have partnered with our friends at Watershed, a software company that powers environmental programmes for leading businesses, to measure our carbon footprint in line with industry-leading protocols. Watershed has helped us calculate our carbon footprint following the Greenhouse Gas (‘GHG’) Protocol. promoted by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
3Degrees
3Degrees, a global climate solutions consultancy, provides Monzo with strategic advisory support on our decarbonisation strategy.
ClarityAI
Clarity AI helps financial institutions manage sustainability risks and impact. Their scorecards use quantitative and qualitative metrics, aligned to global standards, to assess Monzo’s ESG risk and alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Our Carbon Footprint
As a branchless bank, we avoid the emissions associated with running a large network of buildings. But, as one of the fastest growing banks in the UK, and with expansion plans in the EU and US, we recognise that we must make a conscious effort to reduce our carbon footprint.
We report our full Greenhouse Gas emissions annually within our annual report, using our 2019 footprint as our base year.
Our FY2025 GHG Emissions Inventory
Our carbon footprint in FY2025 was 23,641 tCO2e. tCO2e stands for tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and is a measure of all the harmful emissions we produce including other harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides and methane. By comparison our carbon footprint in FY2024 was 20,146 tonnes of tCO2e.
As a growing business it’s important to track our footprint by its intensity, which measures our emissions in relation to the size of our business. Our customer intensity, which is tCO2e per million customers, was 1,890 which is 10% lower than FY2024. Over time, as our revenues and customer numbers grow, we expect our intensity metrics to reduce as we deliver our decarbonisation strategy.
The graph opposite shows a high level breakdown of our FY2025 carbon footprint. For clarity on what activities these categories include, we’ve included the top emissions for each category in the table below. If you would like more detail on specific emissions figures, please get in touch with us at sustainability@monzo.com
| GHG Scope | Description | Examples of emission types within category* | tCO2e FY2025 | tCO2e FY2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Direct emissions | Refrigerants required to fuel the air con in our offices | 194 | 184 |
| Scope 2 | Purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling | Electricity used to fuel our Monzonauts' computers in our offices** | 207 | 209 |
| Scope 3.1 | Purchased goods and services | Office supplies purchased for our offices in London, Cardiff and Dublin | 20,381 | 17,573 |
| Scope 3.2 | Capital goods | Hardware in our offices | 67 | 212 |
| Scope 3.3 | Fuel and energy related activities | The fuel- and energy-related emissions that are not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2, i.e. the production of the fuel we use | 94 | 95 |
| Scope 3.5 | Waste generated in operations | Waste generated from our Monzonauts having lunch in the office | 41 | 29 |
| Scope 3.6 | Business travel | Travel conducted by Monzonauts visiting our other offices i.e. Dublin to London for collaboration on a product launch | 1,256 | 679 |
| Scope 3.7 | Employee commuting | Monzonauts' travel to Monzo's offices | 1,364 | 1,130 |
| Scope 3.8 | Upstream leased assets | Monzo's use of co-working spaces in locations such as San Fransisco | 37 | 35 |
| Scope 3.15 | Investments | 0 | 0 | |
| Total emissions | 23,641 | 20,146 |
*These examples are provided in relation to FY2025
**The figure provided is location-based meaning it is calculated using the average emission intensity of the local electricity grid. We actually procure renewable electricity which means our market-based figure (calculated based on the emission intensity of the energy we actually buy) is 0.
Our emissions by scope
Under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which we’ve used to measure our emissions, it’s common to break emissions down into three types or ‘scopes’.
Scope 1 emissions are ‘direct emissions’ - a result of activities owned or controlled by Monzo that release emissions into the atmosphere. For example this could be emissions from vehicles owned by a company, or a factory.
Scope 2 emissions are those associated with Monzo’s consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling (in our case for our offices in London, Cardiff and San Francisco). These are indirect emissions that are a consequence of Monzo’s activities, but which occur at sources Monzo does not own or control.
Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of Monzo’s actions, which occur at sources which Monzo does not own or control and which are not classed as Scope 2 emissions. They are typically from our supply chain, and the easiest way to think about them is that they are emissions from things that we purchase.
Under the GHG Protocol, the majority of our emissions (98.3% in FY2025) fall under Scope 3. 0.876% of our emissions are scope 2, and 0.82% are scope 1.
Our goal to reach net zero emissions by 2030
Our goal is to reach net zero emissions as a business by the year 2030. Net zero companies aim to achieve for their own business what the world must accomplish to beat climate change.
How we plan to get to net zero emissions
We’re a fast growing business, which inevitably means our emissions will continue to grow at first, but with ambitious action, we can gradually reduce our carbon footprint, and remove emissions over time as we work towards our 2030 goal.
To reach net zero, we need to take a combination of actions. The first is to reduce our own direct emissions (those that are not scope 3 emissions). These are a small proportion of our overall emissions, but there are some simple steps we are working on, like sourcing clean power for our offices.
The second is to reduce the emissions in our supply chain. This will take longer to achieve, but as a start we have already begun to ask new and prospective suppliers about their own climate goals, and will factor them into our procurement process moving forward.
Finally, for those emissions we can’t eliminate ourselves, we need to purchase carbon removals to remove the equivalent amount of carbon from the atmosphere. We are working with Watershed on some options, and will build up our purchases over time, avoiding carbon offsets (which are not as effective) where possible and ensuring that the removals we purchase are of a high quality.
We’re a member of the Tech Zero Taskforce
We’re proud to have joined forces with other leading UK tech companies by becoming a member of the Tech Zero Taskforce. The Taskforce is an official UN race to zero partner organisation. It has brought together tech companies through shared commitments for environmental goals, including net zero, with the aim of getting 1,000 UK companies to agree to them before the UN’s 26th Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021.
Actions we’ve already taken to reduce our emissions
We’ve made some small but important steps on the journey to reduce our emissions:
Emissions associated with our debit cards and wider payment processing have been removed since 2021. We issued 7.7 million recycled PVC cards with solvent free ink in FY2025, representing 93% of the total of cards we issued that year.
In FY2025 we remove the emissions associated with Monzonauts' business travel.
All new Monzo offices will be fuelled by 100% renewable electricity, like our existing UK offices.
We have switched the production of our cards so that 93% of our cards are now produced with recycled materials.
We help customers to recycle old cards. Simply pop it in an envelope without a stamp and address it to FREEPOST MONZO RECYCLE.
All UK Monzonauts can be part of the Cycle to Work scheme, so it’s more convenient to use environmentally friendly transport for their commute. Our Cardiff office has also committed to the Business Healthy Travel Charter Wales.
What’s next and how we’ll keep you updated
We’re proud of the commitments we’ve made, but we know we still have a lot of work to do to become a net zero company. We'll continue to keep you updated on our progress on this page and in our annual report.