Welcome
2024: A Landmark Year for Sustainability at Cognita
2024 has marked a year of continued progress and growing momentum for sustainability across Cognita. Our long-standing commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) excellence remains steadfast, now supported byan expanding number of initiatives and an increasing bodyof evidence demonstrating our impact. As our role in shaping a sustainable future strengthens, so too does our sense of responsibility- and we are proud to be rising to meet it.
This is about more than individualmilestones. Rooted in ourbelief in Holistic Education, we see learning as a force for human development that reaches far beyond the classroom. It empowers individuals to make better decisions, live healthier lives, and contribute meaningfullyto society.
As we move through 2025 and look ahead to 2026, we are energised byour progress. We know there is more to do in order to fulfil our full ESG aspirations. But we are confident that with the help of our partners, we will be able to contribute more and more to our communities and our environment.
For the Executive Leadership Team, the Board, and everyone in our global community, it is deeplyrewarding to see clear, measurable gains in ESG These are not just metrics- theyare milestones in our journeyto becoming a more sustainable, responsible, and future-focused organisation.
We hope you enjoyreading this report as we progress towards a more sustainable future.
Materiality
We first undertook a materiality assessment in 2023 to identify and better understand the ESG topics that could potentially impact Cognita and its stakeholders (including students, colleagues, parents, local communities, investors, and regulators).
To do so, we worked with an independent consultant, utilising the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards double materiality methodology. There are two main factors which together make up the concept of 'double materiality': financial materiality and impact materiality.
We first used sector standards to understand our sector and context. While engaging with relevant stakeholders and experts, we considered the topics and impacts described in the standards, and assessed the significance of these impacts. We then prioritised the most signifcant impacts by testing the material topics with experts, information users and against the standards. This is how we determined the material topics to our business and put together our materiality matrix. The topics have been aligned with our Sustainability Strategy.
Materiality Matrix
SystemicriskManagement
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Impacts/ Engpgement& &lndep ndence Biodiversity Ret�ntion
Priorities: SustainableLearning Environments NurturingResponsible Learners
Fair&Sustainable Workplaces '1 � r C l1I • FoundationalPrincipia: LeadingResponsibly
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STAKEHOLDER IMPACTS
We plan to review and update our materiality assessment every two years to ensure we remain focused on the key topics and impacts for our business and stakeholders, in alignment with relevant regulatory requirements. This SustainabilityReport remains aligned with the materiality assessment we conducted in 2023.
Sources of greenhousegas emissions
Our carbon footprint is calculated according to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, the leading global standard to measure and manage GHG emissions. The GHG Protocol defines three "scopes" for accounting and reporting purposes (Cognita currently reports on Scope 1 and 2, and we are actively planning how to expand our reporting to include Scope 3):
Direct greenhouse gas emissionsthat a company generatesfrom itsown sources and activities.
Measurementimprovements
Indirect greenhouse gas emissionsthat arise from the generation ofe.g. purchased electricity/other energy sources.
Greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company's "value chain", i.e. activities beyond its direct control such asthose from suppliers and customers.
We completed the second year of calculating our global Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions inventory and water usage tracking exercise with the support of an external consultant.
We have also aligned our 2022 and 2023 calendar year data with our financial year to better comply with regulatory requirements and best practice. This means that every year in November, we calculate our GHG emissions from the financial year before.
