Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how businesses can reduce their carbon footprint.
As more businesses get up to speed with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, one of the basic steps involved in working on the environmental part of the process is reducing their carbon footprint.
This involves measuring and reducing carbon emissions, which occur when carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. This can be done directly by a company or indirectly by its supply chain. According to Net Zero Tracker, 1,176 companies in 147 countries have set net zero carbon emission targets.
When measuring carbon emissions, there are three scopes to track:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from company-owned or controlled sources, such as vehicles or fuel use on site.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from company consumption of electricity, steam, heating, and cooling.
- Scope 3: All other indirect emissions linked to the company’s operations. This can include business travel and waste generation.
According to a Harvard Business School article, there are tools and techniques available to help measure carbon emissions. These include:
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol, an international tool that provides standards and guidance for measuring GHG emissions
- Carbon footprint calculators, online tools that estimate a company’s total emissions and provides insights and suggestions on how to improve
- Life cycle assessment (LCA), a technique that looks environmental impacts at all stages of a product’s life
- Environmental management systems (EMS), which combine procedures for monitoring, summarizing, and reporting information on environmental performance
Reducing carbon emissions
To reduce carbon emissions, businesses should focus on their energy usage. After determining how much energy they consume, businesses should look for ways to reduce energy consumption without having a major impact on operations, according to Cool Effect. This can include conducting an energy audit and improving energy efficiency by switching to LED light bulbs, lowering thermostats, or insulating pipes.
The International Energy Agency says energy efficiency represents more than 40% of the emissions abatement needed by 2040.
In addition, transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar panels can reduce a company’s carbon footprint considerably.
Companies can also reduce emissions by cutting back on transportation through remote work, using public transportation, and reducing the number of flights employees take.
Companies can reduce their Scope 3 emissions by ensuring sustainable business practices are maintained throughout the supply chain. This can be done by contractually requiring suppliers to use renewable energy.
Businesses can also use carbon offsetting, which compensates for carbon emissions by providing funding for projects that reduce or remove an equivalent amount of carbon from the atmosphere. Notably, Microsoft has committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030 through projects such as reforestation, soil carbon sequestration, and direct air capture.
Another way to incorporate carbon offsetting is to purchase carbon credits, which offset emissions that companies are unable to directly eliminate and support the development of technologies and practices that go toward carbon reduction.