From investors urging fast food
chains
to cut their emissions to the Swedish teenager rallying schoolchildren to
hold strikes across
the world, calls for climate action are getting too loud for politicians and
business leaders to ignore. As this awakening continues to gather momentum,
consumers will inevitably look to brands, as well as governments, to deliver.
But the window of opportunity for action is closing fast: according to latest
estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world needs
to bring about a net zero economy — by balancing out anthropogenic emissions
with the removal of greenhouse gases — by 2050. And we only have until 2030 to
reach halfway.
Businesses need to lead from the front to bring about the wholesale change
needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change and limit global warming
to less than 1.5C.
But what does action look like? And how can a single business — no matter how
large — play its part when the stakes are so high and the challenges so huge?
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The good news amid all the doom and gloom is that:
a) we still have this chance to turn things around, albeit with time rapidly
diminishing, and
b) every business can make a positive climate impact by getting its own
emissions to zero and helping to drive forward the net zero economy.
Imprinting net zero
While the need for all businesses to become carbon neutral — the term
typically used to describe net zero at a company level — is certain, how to
reach it has been anything but.
Climate solutions specialists Natural Capital Partners have been
tackling this question for over 20 years, and first published The
CarbonNeutral Protocol for businesses in 2002, providing a robust framework to
enable companies to make credible carbon-neutral statements.
Last year, the company brought together sustainability and business leaders from
more than 60 of the world’s biggest firms in seven roundtable events, getting
them to talk about their own climate action stories — and to explore different
ways businesses can help decarbonise the economy.
Click to enlarge.
The meetings took place in
five countries across the US and Europe, and were prompted by a direct call from
the United Nations on businesses to offer new views and ideas on how to
increase climate ambition in the run up to COP24 in December.
From the discussions, Natural Capital Partners gained a vast cache of invaluable first-hand accounts
of climate action in action. The company has distilled the core findings from
its research into the following seven ways – outlined in its Imprinting Net
Zero model – that businesses can
decarbonise their operations and drive the net zero economy forward:
Click to enlarge.
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Foot-print, a term no doubt familiar to all readers, concerns a
business’s own emissions, either caused directly through its own operations
or indirectly through its use of non-renewable energy and motorised
transport. Companies can reduce their footprints through a mix of in-house
reduction initiatives, purchasing — and generating — renewable
energy,
and offsetting emissions through low-carbon sustainable development
projects.
Microsoft, Marks &
Spencer and Fetzer
Vineyards are among those that
have gone carbon neutral across their operations, working with Natural Capital Partners to
achieve their goals. Logitech, in recently taking its primary
manufacturing facility in China carbon neutral, is also demonstrating
its commitment to climate leadership in the consumer electronics field and
in the region.
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Tail-print is defined in the model as the reduction of emissions
consumed by suppliers in the creation of goods and services used by a
company, and refers to what is more commonly considered upstream Scope 3
emissions
(but with more emphasis on responsibility!).
One company that stands out for its work in this area is tea and coffee
company Bettys & Taylors Group, which has worked with Natural Capital Partners and its
suppliers in
Africa
to start a grassroots programme in the farming communities producing their
tea. The initiative involves working with thousands of farmers to plant
indigenous trees on their land and teach conservation farming methods.
The cultivation of fruit crops and enhanced farm management practices
improves the livelihoods of farmers and helps them both adapt to and
mitigate the effects of climate change. The programme has generated verified
emissions reductions, which makes its Yorkshire Tea and Taylors
Coffee carbon-neutral products, all the way from farm to retail shelf.
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Hand-print is the last of the familiar imprints and is a popular focal
point for businesses targeting emissions. It refers to emissions consumed
downstream by customers through their use of a company’s goods or services.
A good example here is Sky,
which produced the world’s first automatic standby mode for its set-top
boxes and has increased the energy efficiency of the boxes by over 25
percent. By helping tens of millions of their customers to save energy, the
company has had a direct influence in cutting emissions across its customer
base.
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Brain-print is the first imprint out of the seven that starts to look at
going beyond net zero to create a wider system-level impact outside the
confines of the business’s usual operations. The model defines brain-print
as putting the transformation to a net zero economy at the heart of business
strategy, and product and service innovation.
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Blue-print is all about how companies identify the right investments,
partnerships, governance and technology to turn their biggest goals into
concrete plans to help build a net zero economy. Bettys & Taylors Group, for
example, commissioned modelling of the climate change that is due to occur
before 2050 in the locations of its tea-growing communities. It then
committed to an 11-year plan to work with those farmers in the communities
to make them more resilient to the changing climate, reducing carbon
emissions and improving the livelihoods of farmers along the way.
-
Finger-print is all about how companies make their sustainability
strategy personally relevant to all staff and management in order to inspire
them to act — and advocate — outside the workplace.
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News-print refers to how companies communicate about climate change to
the wider world, making it one of the most exciting and relevant imprints
for brands. Every brand needs to act as a climate messenger of sorts, but
currently not many companies are assuming that mantle. One company that has,
however, is Sky — which has capitalised on its position as a global
broadcaster to deliver powerful campaigns such as The Bigger Picture,
Rainforest Rescue and Sky Ocean
Rescue
to vast audiences, cementing its reputation as being at the forefront of
environmental issues.
Limiting global warming to 1.5C requires urgent, system-wide change and
collaboration across every sector of society; but while the political classes
are still trying to find their
teeth,
business must seize the opportunity to lead from the front. Natural Capital
Partners’ seven imprints provide a necessary framework for every company — large
or small — to not just start its journey towards carbon neutrality, but to
effect a wider, regenerative impact and extend its position as a climate leader.
Read more about Imprinting Net Zero, including more case studies of Natural
Capital Partners’ clients at
www.naturalcapitalpartners.com/talanoa.
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Freelance writer
Hugh Bowring is a versatile freelance communications specialist with a rich and varied career spanning nearly 15 years.
Published Apr 2, 2019 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST