The story so far

Climate change is increasing, and pressure is building. This has made a lot of businesses panic – or worse – do nothing at all.Every year, The UN hosts COP - the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC. COP is a conference to discuss the goals and progress towards fighting climate change at an international level.

Countries come away with an agreed set of conditions and policies to implement. Then next year, they review again.The ultimate goal for COP is to limit global warming to well below 2C, preferably to 1.5C (compared to pre-industrial levels). As we know, the earth is too hot, and that is what’s contributing to floods, droughts, heat waves, animal extinctions and communities disappearing.

Currently, we’re at 1.2C and on track for 2.5C by 2050, according to the latest UN Gap Report.

The climate conversation is driving progress, and we can see across the board:

- Governments funding green tech projects- Companies pledging to Net Zero- Industries creating Net Zero campaigns

‍- Employees switching to green jobs

‍- Consumers shopping sustainably

‍- Suppliers are asking for environmental credentials

‍The climate conversation isn’t going anywhere. So it’s worth every penny to understand what your business needs to do to improve in this space.

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‍Back to basics, what’s a carbon footprint?

‍My carbon footprint is a calculation of the number of carbon emissions my lifestyle includes. Yours is the same. From the clothes you buy, the travel you take, to the food you eat. Everything you do creates emissions. For example, if I take a bus into town, my carbon emissions from that journey = distance the bus travels x emissions per km from the bus. Use our free calculator to work out your own.

A business’ carbon footprint works the same way, although we measure more categories. Just think about all of the aspects of your business. Everything. From the energy you consume in your office to how your employees commute. From the servers you run off of to the suppliers you use. All the way to what your customers do with your product once they buy it (and finish using it). Use our free calculator for your business.

And then you report. The same way you report financial accounts, you can report carbon emissions. The GHG Protocol, a "standardised, global approach to quantifying, managing, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions", is the most common reporting framework for carbon emissions. Measuring your GHG emissions looks at 3 ‘Scopes’.

Scopes are categories across your business.

- Scope 1 are the assets you own that burn fuel

- Scope 2 is the electricity you buy

- Scope 3 is everything else (up and down your supply chain). Note that this scope alone makes up on average 80% of your carbon footprint.

Adding all these scopes together gives you your total carbon footprint, e.g. 54.33 tonnes of C02e in 2022.

Source: GHG Corporate Accounting Report

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‍‍What does my business actually need to do?

‍The goal for your business is to:

1. understand your total carbon emissions
   
2. set a target and plan to reduce
   
3. have something you can publicly show
   

Let’s break this process down into six simple steps:

1. Measure - Work out your carbon across each Scope 1-3. Collect energy usage from landlords and home-working, business travel and commute distances, expenditure from purchases, and any specific emissions created by your business (e.g. marketing campaigns, packaging emissions or digital carbon). All this information gets totalled into your carbon footprint. Look to measure every quarter so you can see seasonable carbon changes.
   
2. Analyse - Scan over your total. What are your top 5 emission contributors? Where are emissions being created unnecessarily? How are we doing against industry averages? What can we feasibly reduce, or cut? All these questions help inform steps 3 and 4.
   
3. Target - Set a reduction target (5% a year is a good start), or look at more significant commitments like Net Zero. But be clear on what Net Zero means. The Science Based Targets Initiative or SBTi (the official Net Zero framework) is a 40% reduction of your emissions by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2050. You offset the remaining ‘residual’ emissions through carbon removal projects or offsetting schemes (like tree planting). Many businesses pledge to Net Zero without knowing this.
   
4. Reduce, Remove & Offset - Your hotspots are identified, your targets are set, and now comes the action! Implement changes that reduce your carbon. Limit business travel, buy from eco-suppliers, switch to green energy, and change to green pensions. These are just a few of the many things you can do. Then fund carbon removal projects, then look at offsetting. We love trees and more are needed, but tree planting alone won’t save our planet.
   
5. Communicate - Create a carbon report summarising your company’s total GHG emissions. This report can be given to employees, clients, suppliers or any stakeholder who asks for it (and more will). At Futureproof, companies have reports and publishable pages. You can also take this information and include it in your Impact Reports.
   
6. Continue - Just like financial reporting; carbon reporting is an ongoing exercise. Some quarters are high, some low. Keep measuring, reporting and reducing. In the same way, we set profit targets, we set carbon targets. Incorporate these into your OKRs and BAU.
   

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‍5 bits of parting advice

‍Just like that, carbon reporting should feel simpler. I’ll leave you with five green nuggets to return to your business with. Spoiler alert: Futureproof helps with all of these.

1. Be confident about your carbon narrative. Your calculations, targets and initiatives. Carbon literacy is vital for leaders to wrap their heads around in the 21st century.
   
2. Build engagement at the core. Keep all stakeholders, from employees to suppliers, informed and involved. Don’t do this in a black box. No company is perfect. Celebrate the journey you’re on.
   
3. Don’t take shortcuts. You need to work out your total carbon footprint, and you can’t shy away from this. Data is king & queen. How can you measure the reduction of an initially estimated figure?
   
4. Avoid Greenwashing at all costs. Provide evidence, reports and summaries to back up everything you do.
   
5. Start as soon as you can. Pressure is increasing, and this will quickly become the business norm. But if you’re honestly looking for motivation - our planet and its inhabitants need you to.
   

Futureproof gives your business everything you need to measure, analyse and reduce your carbon footprint. With an Emissions Manager, Net Zero Roadmap and Support from our team. Get your free demo here.