McGraw Hill Education sustainability score: 27/100

No Scope 1 or Scope 2 data has been published by McGraw Hill Education in any publicly available source — not in the FY2024 or FY2025 Impact Reports, the 2025 SEC Form S-1 prospectus, or any DRS/A filing. The company makes qualitative statements about reducing its 'emissions footprint' through real-estate rightsizing and energy-efficient facilities, but publishes zero tonne figures. No CDP disclosure was found. McGraw Hill is a mid-sized company with ~4,200 employees and ~$2.2B revenue operating offices in 30+ countries and running digital learning platforms; estimated total Scope 1+2 is in the 10,000–50,000 tonne range, putting this firmly in the score-1 band for non-disclosing mid-sized companies. No third-party verification exists.

No Scope 3 data has been published. McGraw Hill's supply chain is moderately complex: print textbook manufacturing involves paper mills and printing facilities (significant upstream embodied carbon), while its growing digital business involves cloud infrastructure, device manufacturing by students, and global distribution of physical books. The company states that 95% of paper purchased directly in the US is 'sustainably sourced' and has aspirations for 100% global paper certification — this is the only substantive supply-chain sustainability disclosure available. No supplier engagement programme, no Scope 3 category mapping, and no CDP supply chain reporting have been identified. Given a real supply chain (print manufacturing, global logistics, digital infrastructure), the score cannot exceed 2 without formal data.

No quantified emissions trajectory exists. The company references reducing its global real estate footprint by 40–50% since 2013 and implementing energy-saving technology as proxies for emissions reduction, but no actual CO₂e figures (baseline or current) have been published to confirm an absolute reduction. With ~$2.2B revenue, growing digital operations (which carry their own energy demand through cloud and data infrastructure), and no formal GHG baseline, there is no evidenced trajectory. Given the company's size and the absence of any quantitative proxy for total absolute emissions over time, this scores 1.

McGraw Hill occupies LEED-certified and Energy Star-certified facilities and states in its FY2026 Form 10-K that it has "reduced our global real estate footprint by over 50% in total square footage since 2013", alongside investment in energy-saving technology. No renewable energy percentage, green tariff, PPA or RE100 membership is disclosed, and no market-based Scope 2 figure exists that would reveal renewable procurement; cloud hosting for Connect and ALEKS is not discussed at all. So there is no renewable strategy. But halving occupied floorspace over a decade, combined with certified-efficient buildings and stated efficiency investment, is a material reduction in the energy the business actually draws — which is what band 4 means by "significant efficiency investments", offered explicitly as an alternative to a green tariff rather than in addition to one. Score 4 on the efficiency limb, with nothing on the sourcing limb.

Paper is described in both the company website and the SEC S-1 as 'one of the principal raw materials used in our business.' The company claims 95% of US paper is sustainably sourced and aspires to 100% global certification — the most substantive nature-related disclosure available. No FSC or PEFC certification is explicitly confirmed, no deforestation-free commitment is documented, and no TNFD assessment has been published. The company's shift toward digital products reduces its paper-related nature footprint over time, but this is not quantified. No biodiversity policy beyond paper sourcing exists. Score reflects awareness of key nature risk (paper) and steps to address it, without quantified outcomes or third-party verification.

McGraw Hill's FY2026 Form 10-K states that "substantially all of the paper we purchase directly in the United States is sustainably sourced". For a publisher, paper is the single most material physical input, so that is supplier choice made partly on sustainability grounds rather than a general statement of intent. Alongside it: participation in private and municipal recycling programmes, a real-estate footprint reduced by over 50% since 2013, and a structural shift from print to digital delivery (digital billings now the majority of revenue). What is absent is any quantified waste metric, circularity target, or published supplier sustainability requirement — all of which band 6 requires. Score 4: active minimisation and supplier choice on sustainability, without measurable targets or reporting.

No water consumption data has been published. McGraw Hill's core activities — office-based knowledge work and digital platform operation — carry inherently low water intensity compared to manufacturing or agricultural sectors. LEED-certified and Energy Star-certified facilities typically incorporate water-efficiency measures. The company's ongoing shift to digital reduces the print manufacturing supply chain (which involves paper mills with significant water use), though no upstream water data is reported. No water stewardship programme or discharge monitoring has been disclosed. The score reflects a genuinely limited water exposure combined with some structural awareness (LEED buildings) but no formal measurement.

No science-based targets have been set or committed to with the SBTi — McGraw Hill does not appear on the SBTi Target Dashboard. No specific, measurable, time-bound emissions reduction targets of any kind are disclosed in the SEC S-1, DRS/A filings, Impact Reports, or corporate website. The only forward-looking commitment identified is the aspiration to achieve 100% globally certified paper purchasing, which is a supply-chain sourcing target, not a GHG reduction target. The company uses phrases such as 'taking steps to reduce our emissions footprint' and 'aspiring to find a better way,' which are informal goals without specifics. No offsets programme, no net-zero pledge, no carbon neutrality claim. Score of 1 reflects the absence of any formal targets.

McGraw Hill publishes an annual Impact Report (FY2024 and FY2025 editions confirmed) and includes environmental sections in its SEC registration filings (Form S-1, DRS/A), providing some public accountability. The company recently went public (NYSE: MH, July 2025), which increases the standard of disclosure required going forward. However, no dedicated sustainability role or Chief Sustainability Officer has been identified; no TCFD or CSRD disclosure exists; no board-level sustainability committee is documented; no third-party assurance of any environmental data has been obtained; and no executive compensation linked to sustainability KPIs has been disclosed. The FY2025 Impact Report references 'Our Environmental Responsibility' and 'Protecting the Planet' sections but these contain qualitative language rather than verified metrics.

No environmental controversies, regulatory actions, greenwashing findings, or significant climate-related lawsuits were identified in searches across DeSmog, InfluenceMap, BankTrack, journalism, or regulatory databases. McGraw Hill is an educational publisher with no structural exposure to the fossil economy — it does not process fossil-fuel transactions, underwrite fossil assets, advertise for oil majors, or audit fossil-sector accounts at material scale. No lobbying against climate policy has been identified. The company's recent IPO (July 2025, NYSE: MH) introduces new regulatory scrutiny but no environmental controversies have emerged. Starts at 8, zero deductions apply.