Background and Context

About Copart

Copart is a leading specialist in used and salvage car auctions, with over a decade of experience in the UK automotive industry. Each year, Copart UK handles more than 500,000 vehicles through its exclusive online auction platform, serving a wide range of clients including insurance companies, fleet operators, lease and hire firms, trade sellers, and the general public.

Copart is committed to leading the industry on avoided emissions, especially through its Green Parts business, and setting the standard for transparency and disclosure. What they needed was the right software: a platform that could empower better decision making, deliver clear and credible disclosures, and unlock real cost savings across the organisation.

The Challenge

Overcoming data silos and resource constraints

Copart faced a range of challenges, largely stemming from its complex organisational structure and the resulting data fragmentation. Before implementing Climatise, Copart and its one-person sustainability team relied heavily on a consultancy for support with sustainability reporting and strategy. However, despite this external help, Copart continued to struggle with several key issues:

• Aligning disparate processes and data architecture: integrating legacy systems, multiple entities, and newly acquired businesses proved difficult, requiring a complete overhaul of sustainability processes to ensure consistent and accurate reporting.
• Limited internal expertise and resources: with only one person dedicated to sustainability, Copart found it challenging to manage all the necessary data across the entire business, which spans multiple entities and systems. This included meeting various reporting requirements, such as SECR and SBTi compliance, and identifying best practices to align efforts company-wide.
• Data centralisation and ownership: existing processes were highly centralised, restricting teams from directly inputting their data or accessing reports as needed. This placed additional pressure on the already overstretched sustainability lead, who had to handle both routine processes and a constant stream of ad-hoc requests.
• Stakeholder engagement: coordinating across finance, operations, and sustainability teams required significant effort, and the reporting process also demanded engagement with a large number of suppliers, many of whom were difficult to involve consistently.

These challenges highlighted the need for a more integrated, transparent, and collaborative approach to sustainability management at Copart.

‍The Solution

Hands-on support, data traceability and real automations: the Climatise advantage

To overcome these challenges, Copart needed an integrated carbon management solution backed by strategic support. Software was the ideal answer, offering the ability to automate and simplify data collection across multiple entities, teams, and reporting requirements.

Copart chose Climatise for its straightforward data upload process, which eliminated the need for extra data cleansing or rigid templates, and for its hands-on, expert-led approach that provided much-needed support to the internal sustainability team.

With Climatise, Copart gained:

• A centralised data hub and standardised emissions reporting across subsidiaries that integrates financial systems and legacy processes for comprehensive Scope 1-3 calculations, requiring only simple data uploads with no data cleansing needed.
• One-click reporting for SECR and real-time monitoring of progress against Copart’s SBTi-aligned targets, significantly reducing the reporting workload.
• Transparent audit trails with a granular emission factor library, giving full visibility into all calculations and making third-party validation straightforward, while also empowering teams to understand where and why numbers changed.
• Support from a dedicated team of sustainability experts, ensuring Copart always had the guidance they needed and that implementation was never delayed due to internal resource constraints.
• Easy access to data and insights through Climatise’s AI-powered chat, enabling all teams, including marketing and communications, to quickly understand and communicate progress.

This combination of automation, transparency, and expert support has enabled Copart to transform its sustainability reporting into a simple, collaborative, and value-adding process.

Key Results

From an overwhelmed to an empowered 1-person sustainability team

"Climatise became our sustainability control tower, especially as we aligned the entire business with our net-zero roadmap. It empowered shared ownership not just of our data, but of our entire sustainability strategy and its progress. As a result, our teams are more aligned, our reporting is both more precise and accurate, and I can focus on driving real initiatives and improvements without being distracted by data management challenges." Name, role, Copart

Thanks to Climatise, Copart transformed a lengthy, data-heavy, and resource-intensive process into a structured and straightforward one. Each team is now empowered to truly own their sustainability data, allowing the sustainability team to save time and focus on driving improvements rather than simply calculating and reporting.

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• Straightforward onboarding with the support of Climatise’s sustainability experts.
• Increased accuracy thanks to the shift from the manual collection of over 1,000 data points annually to a streamlined monthly process with clear ownership. Tasks are now completed more accurately and on time, eliminating the need for the sustainability team to spend hours answering questions, chasing data owners, or handling everything themselves.
• Clear cost savings compared to the consultancy services previously relied upon.
• Improved communication around progress towards net zero.
• Actionable recommendations for initiatives to reduce energy consumption, waste, and carbon emissions.

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Climatise has enabled Copart to move from reactive reporting to proactive sustainability leadership.

Looking ahead

On the path to achieving SBTi-aligned targets

With a strong carbon management foundation in place, Copart is now accelerating progress toward its SBTi-aligned goals. Climatise has streamlined data collection and reporting, empowering Copart to set and track ambitious carbon reduction targets across the business.

Sustainability is now embedded in every department, with transparent dashboards and cross-team collaboration ensuring alignment and accountability. Copart plans to leverage data-driven insights to pilot new initiatives while maintaining transparent disclosure, third-party validation, and open communication with stakeholders, further reinforcing its commitment to sustainability.

As Copart moves forward, its focus remains clear: to set the standard for sustainability in its sector, deliver meaningful emissions reductions, and create long-term value for its customers, partners, and the planet.

If you want to learn how Climatise can help your organisation take control of its emissions data and net-zero journey, get in touch!

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