Sustainability is woven into the fabric of Secrets Shhh DNA. It drives our business strategies, our market positioning, our product development and design, and aligns with our customer expectations.  

At Secrets Shhh, we have huge aspirations to not only reduce our environmental impact but move toward a regenerative model whereby we are having a positive environmental impact on this planet!

To achieve this regenerative model is a journey with many steps along the way. We have outlined the three immediate steps that we are working on right now, and we will continue to update these steps as we achieve certain milestones and move onto the next milestones.

Milestone 1: Maintain our Climate Active carbon neutral certification for our Organisation

Secrets Shhh has achieved Climate Active certified carbon neutrality for our Organisation. 

Climate Active is an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and Australian businesses to drive voluntary climate action. Climate Active certification is awarded to businesses and organisations that have credibly reached a state of achieving carbon neutrality. 

By achieving this certification, Secrets Shhh are required to demonstrate best practice in: 

• Measuring our carbon footprint and having this data independently audited 
• Demonstrating a priority focus on reducing our emissions ongoing and setting realistic emission reduction targets 
• Only investing in carbon credits from programs that are permissible under Climate Active. 

Secrets Shhh has a direct Climate Active page link where our stakeholders can review our Climate Active Public Disclosure Summary documentation.  

Maintaining a Climate Active certification is an annual commitment and Secrets Shhh are committed to achieving this certification for our Organisation year on year. This means that under this program we will be required to continually demonstrate emission reductions for our Organisation and invest in carbon credits that can offset our residual emissions.

Milestone 2: Measure and achieve Climate Active carbon neutrality for our product range by the end of 2024

Secrets Shhh initial focus for Climate Active certification was for our Organisational boundary. However, it is vital that we expand that scope to our product range as this is the core purpose of our business. 

Whilst we know that our product range already provides a sustainable alternative for our customers it is important that we understand the footprint of our products from cradle all the way through to grave. In doing so, Secrets Shhh can then:

• provide complete greenhouse gas emission transparency on our products; and
• provide hard evidence that our product is an environmentally sustainable alternative compared to the market; and
• achieve Climate Active certification for our products that will allow our customer base to invest in a carbon neutral jewellery product. 

As such, the goals that make up this milestone are: 

1. Undertake a comparative lifecycle assessment (LCA) to determine our emissions footprint in comparison with the standard market alternative
2. Proceed to take our product range Climate Active certified carbon neutral
3. Commit to maintaining this Climate Active certification ongoing.

Milestone 3: Set a science-based net-zero 2040 target

As we continue to achieve and work toward expanding our carbon neutral claims for the purpose of Climate Active, it is imperative that we set a science-based net-zero target that will align our emission reduction trajectory with the residual global carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5C.  

Whilst carbon neutrality is an important piece of the sustainability puzzle that allows us to offset our emissions year on year, a net-zero target demonstrates that Secrets Shhh are: 

• Reducing our emissions in line with relevant climate-related scenarios 
• Focusing on reducing our emissions as much as possible and not solely relying on carbon credits 
• Engaging our supply chain to help them reduce their emissions - thereby reducing emissions in our supply chain 
• Looking beyond our value chain to identify how we can achieve holistic sustainability across not just environmental factors but social factors. 

The goals that make up this milestone are: 

1. Determine the appropriate sector-specific guidance for setting science-based targets for Secrets Shhh
2. Determine the most appropriate target types to set across all three scopes (e.g. absolute contraction and/or intensity targets) and from this determine the minimum emission trajectory
3. Set science-based targets that include both near-term targets as well as our long-term net-zero by 2040 target
4. Investigate having these targets validated by the global framework – Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) 
5. Track progress toward these targets year on year.