Our planet

Our partners rely on us to operate responsibly and sustainably, remain compliant with environmental legislation and regulatory requirements, and collaborate with upstream value chain partners to drive sustainable innovation. For our employees, we have a duty to strive for a healthier planet to ensure better lives for them and their families. Datatec will continue to invest in improving its environmental and climate performance and take meaningful action to reduce our footprint.

We prioritise our environmental responsibility through a focus on three key areas: carbon emissions, energy usage, and e-waste management.

During FY25, we improved our environmental data coverage, integrity and accuracy across operations, through a combination of better controls and internal quality assurance as well as the implementation of new ESG and carbon emissions data collection and analysis software.

Carbon emissions

Our climate and carbon emissions goals, encompassing Datatec and its subsidiaries, set a clear path towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and reinforce our commitment to aligning our operations with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C.

Our SBTi-validated targets are to:

• Reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2022 baseline
• Ensure 85% of suppliers set science-based emission reduction targets by 2028
• Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050

Disclosed below are Datatec’s FY25 scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions with FY24 and baseline comparators:

Carbon emissions (tCO2e)		2025	2024	2022  (base)
Scope 1+2 (location-based)		7 429	8 229	7 965
Scope 1+2 (market-based)		7 006	7 857	7 923
Year-on-year change (market-based)		(11%)
Change vs. base year (market-based)		(12%)
Scope 3		993 622	952 516	973 023
Year-on-year change		+4%
Change vs. base year		+2%
% suppliers (by spend) with science-based targets		74%	N/A	N/A

1.

The emissions data was compiled in alignment with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. The GHG inventory aligns with the requirements set by the Science-Based Targets initiative (“SBTi”) for transparent reporting on progress towards our science-based targets. Please note the carbon emissions data presented in the table has not been audited and should not be considered as an assurance of the accuracy and completeness of such information. The reported emissions data at the Group level covers approximately 99% of our operations (Datatec head office, Westcon International, Logicalis International, Logicalis Latin America and Mason Advisory Limited), as measured by both revenue and number of employees.

2.

FY24 scope 1 and 2 figures have been restated to reflect updated calculation methodologies used in FY25 and applied to prior year figures to ensure comparability.

We have made significant reductions in our scope 1 and 2 emissions in FY25 compared to the prior year and our FY22 base year. This is due to energy efficiency measures, increasing the proportion of operational electricity consumption from renewable sources, and installing on-site solar generation at a small number of logistics centres, as well as decreased diesel and petrol consumption in Group-owned vehicles. As a result, Datatec has now decreased scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12% compared to the FY22 base year. While this is reasonable progress, we need to accelerate our actions in order to meet our SBTi target of 50% reduction by 2030.

Datatec’s total scope 3 emissions increased by 4% in FY25. This is primarily due to a significant increase in emissions from the “use of sold products” category, one of our most sizeable, because of more accurate product data and improved calculations. Emissions from most categories remained consistent year-over-year, and emissions in the significant “purchased goods and services” category fell, partly due to increased coverage of supplier-specific data and a reduction in the spend-based emissions factors.

Energy usage

The management of our energy usage and a drive to switch to renewable electricity sources wherever possible are integral elements of our scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction strategy. We have made good progress in both areas, using energy audits in some geographies to reduce usage and switching to renewable sources where operationally feasible. Overall, our total energy use from all sources decreased by 10% in FY25 compared to the prior year, and renewable electricity contributed 28% towards our total electricity usage. However, we recognise that there is a great deal more to do in this area if we are to reach our interim 2030 target.

E-waste management

As technology distribution is a significant part of Datatec’s business globally, the hardware products we sell and distribute contribute to global e-waste. To reduce the number of products going to waste and prolong the lifespan of equipment, we work with our vendors and partners, to deliver bespoke “reverse logistics” programmes in several parts of the world.

These include facilitating the return of equipment which has reached the end of its useful life in the field to our facilities and repurposing it, combining new equipment with approved vendor remanufactured equipment, or passing equipment which has genuinely reached the end of its life to authorised IT recyclers. We also participate in partner programmes in this area, for example the Cisco Takeback and Reuse programme.

External climate frameworks and reporting

We support leading sustainability initiatives and count the SBTi and CDP among our formal commitments. Having had our climate and carbon emissions targets validated by SBTi, Datatec is recognised by the UN Global Compact as one of only a few companies in South Africa who are currently taking ambitious and credible action on climate change.

In FY25, Datatec maintained its CDP rating of B (above both African and global averages), having improved in the areas of opportunity disclosure, governance and emissions reporting, reflecting notable progress in transparency and climate accountability. A key area for future improvement is strengthening the verification processes for our environmental data.

We have enhanced our TCFD-aligned reporting in FY25 by including the results of a financial quantification exercise undertaken to estimate the impacts of the most material physical climate risks on our business (extreme heat and water stress, as identified in previous climate scenario analysis).

FY26 plans

• Targeted planning and execution of regional decarbonisation plans and renewable electricity goals
• Continue to engage with key suppliers in line with our scope 3 SBTi commitment
• Review and improve measurement methodologies of material scope 3 categories
• Utilise the functionality of our new ESG software to manage and derive insights from our climate data and improve our reporting.