The biggest impact and first step for your low carbon ambition, is to reduce or remove carbon emissions. If you can ask yourself 2 questions;
Have you done everything we can to decarbonise our operations, our supply chain, our product?
Have you optimised all possible efficiencies?
Following this and in answering yes, in this article we share information about offsetting and where it fits within a low carbon strategy.
Why do you need to reduce your emissions?
We have a climate emergency, and we are all responsible for taking action to solve the biggest challenge in our history.
The UK Government has signed you and your business to 2050 net zero targets. In June 2019, parliament passed legislation requiring the government to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases to Net Zero by 2050.
Green house gas emissions are categorized into three groups or ‘scopes’ by the most widely used international accounting tool, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Scope 1 – Covers Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources eg from company facilities and vehicles
Scope 2 – Covers Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam and heating produced by your business
Scope 3 – Include all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain eg – purchased goods, travel and waste.
Working through the Scope’s understanding, tracking and formulating a strategy, following the IEMA (The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) Green House Gas Hierarchy to Eliminate, Reduce, Substitute and Compensate carbon emissions.
It is important to follow this process, to remove carbon first and foremost, we do understand that some emissions in particular Scope 3 will take time to understand and influence, technology or finance may limit the ability to eliminate emissions, this is where offsetting or compensating can support your ambition.
What is a carbon Market?
Carbon markets provide the infrastructure for carbon trading or ‘offsetting’ — the process by which businesses and individuals can be accountable for their unavoidable emissions by funding certified GHG emission reduction projects elsewhere in the world. The World Bank State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2016 report estimates that carbon markets have the potential to reduce global mitigation costs by more than 50 percent by mid-century.
Compliance in carbon markets is controlled by the Kyoto Protocol agreed in 1992 by The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). In 1997, more than 170 countries adopted the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention. This set legally binding targets for 37 industrialised countries to limit or reduce overall GHG emissions by at least 5% below 1990 levels during the period 2008-2012.
There are numerous carbon credit verification bodies set up globally, read more about the compliance and verification process here.
Here at SBS we partner with U Offset, our offsetting partner that can support our business clients, their staff and wider general public to Reduce Remove Offset.
Solutions can be provided for individuals, businesses, one off trips or events and even your workforce. Utilising offsetting as a platform U Offset was formed to inspire change, for too long now we have heard much talk with no action. Our aim is to build a community that can drive change, through education, support and verified offsetting investment in global and local schemes.
For more information about how you or your business can offset its emissions please follow the following link U Offset.
READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT?
Speak to an expert to find out about how we can help you improve excel your business's progress to becoming net zero.
