What Business Transformations Are Necessary To Fight Climate Change?
/
The international community, coordinated by world leaders and the United Nations received an unmissable wake-up call during the pandemic. As industrial activities came to a standstill at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, environmentalists recorded the largest annual drop in global carbon dioxide emissions since the Second World War. The event was short-lived, and emissions rebounded strongly and rapidly once activities restarted. Nevertheless, the event has proven the crucial role businesses can play in reducing environmental changes in the future.
Environmental analysts are now, more than ever, at the heart of a path that will, hopefully, lead toward sustainable development and meeting the Paris Agreement on climate change. Business as usual is not a choice anymore. The time has come for companies to consider transforming their processes and professional networks to create sustainable activities and operations. Sustainability is a non-negotiable factor of growth at a business level and long-term survival for communities and wildlife. Tactical decisions, such as low-energy lightbulbs and digitizing processes to reduce paper consumption, have shown a positive yet limited impact on the environment. Businesses, now, must bring their climate change fight to the next level and embrace a more disruptive approach. What can a business do to create a solid, reliable, and meaningful strategy to tackle its climatic and environmental impact in the long term?
Determining the real business impact
The first and most important step every environmental analyst must take to reduce the company's impact on the planet is to focus on greenhouse gas emissions. A number of private agencies are qualified to provide relevant, actionable, and precise carbon dioxide emission measures.
Companies can refer to the greenhouse gas emissions protocol to identify their emission range compared to other industries all around the world. The GHG protocol standards act as an accounting platform, not only making businesses accountable but also providing a picture of the current situation around the world. Standards are available for organizations, cities, countries, and operations. Guidance is also available to identify major problem areas and provide advice and direction for improvements.
As the first step toward demonstrating the business commitment, the GHG figures will help determine realistic and measurable climate-related goals and targets. As defined by the Science Based Targets, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets tend to be matched with climate science. However, it is fair to mention that while large organizations have the resources to invest rapidly in new environmentally-friendly strategies, it may be a slower process for small and mid-sized businesses. That's where GHC results can help businesses prioritize.
Energy efficiency is a business priority
The energy price increase of 2022 plays a big role in convincing businesses of all sizes to control and reduce their energy consumption by focusing on:
Identifying energy vampires in the business operations
Running insulation audits in commercial properties
Removing obsolete technology and practices
Monitoring the energy efficiency of the solutions in place
The energy rejected by the commercial and industrial sectors in the United States only reached over 16 quadrillion BTUs, which would be sufficient to provide heating to the entire population of the country.
The introduction of a hybrid work model or fully remote work model can contribute to reducing energy consumption in the business environment. At an age where many employees are desperate to maintain their remote work position, it makes sense for companies to cut down on office-based employment. Work-from-home roles can be instrumental in tackling energy inefficiencies within a company by:
Reducing heating requirements
Reducing lighting and power for work equipment
Moving to a smaller office space
Outsourcing hardware processes, such as servers
The main advantage of a remote work arrangement is that it can lead to savings, both financial and environmental. From a small business perspective, it often is the most budget-friendly option to cut down on energy consumption. Yet, additional environmentally-inspired investments can be partially funded by government grants, green loans, and tax benefits, such as upgrading equipment and energy appliances. These initiatives can make carbon footprint control more manageable when the budget is limited.
Build green urban networks
Over half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and the majority of urban dwellers use delivery services for everyday orders, from fashion to groceries. Experts estimate that by 2025, the number of daily deliveries in cities will reach 500 million. As deliveries become more frequent and numerous, businesses must consider solutions to reduce and minimize their environmental footprint.
A variety of options are available, depending on the business structure, needs, and delivery services. Switching to a green courier service can be a smart move to reduce carbon footprint. However, carbon-neutral couriers can require longer to deliver, which can lead to frustration for customers. Alternatively, the company can also try out new delivery fleets, such as electric vehicles or testing drone deliveries. UPS estimated that using drone deliveries for the last mile journey could save both money and carbon emissions.
Additionally, drones such as the DJI M30 model can also be a useful tool to visualize and compare journeys and routes for deliveries inside and outside of large urban centers. Electric vehicles, for instance, may require a different itinerary to account for charge capacity.
Make everyone accountable
Despite specialist green financing solutions, building environmentally-friendly processes still comes at a high cost. Indeed, going green is a lot more complex than replacing a high carbon footprint cog in the machine with an environmentally-friendly, identical cog. There is no one-to-one replacement of activities, products, and strategies. Fighting climate change requires a conscious and dedicated transformation at strategic, logistic, and operational levels, and it is not a task that should be the responsibility of the business alone.
Thankfully, the first environmental lesson the pandemic has taught businesses is teamwork. Indeed, the substantial CO2 emission drop recorded at the start of the pandemic was the combined result of companies and customers stopping greenhouse gas generating activities, such as manufacturing, driving, commercial transportation, etc. Similarly, fighting climate change may be driven by strategic commercial decisions, but they would be unsuccessful without the community's support. No company can introduce green initiatives without the support and involvement of its local community. After all, fighting climate change can affect:
The choice of materials and resources the company uses
The price of the products or services
The production, processing, and delivery operations
The expertise required by the staff — employees may need additional training and certifications
The day-to-day routine in the company — as it is likely to change
The choice of partners and suppliers
It makes no sense to embark on a journey against climate change when the local community is not willing to support the transformation, whether it impacts the market price, the delivery time, or their professional routine. Consequently, communication is a major factor of success in an environmental strategy. Companies that share their objectives and progress positively are more likely to convince their audience and gain their approval.
Last words
Environmental business analysts have a tough task ahead of them to help organizations establish long-term, profitable strategies without losing the focus on sustainability and the environment. As climate change figures paint a dire future, more and more companies all around the world are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and their environmental impact.
Many companies have already taken small actions, such as switching to LED light bulbs or reducing paper consumption in the office. But, the time has come for in-depth transformations within the business world, whether it relates to changing operations, upgrading equipment-based activities, or bringing the community on board with the latest environmental best practices.
