The advantages of calculating carbon footprint for business

Nowadays, we are all constantly surrounded with the news and pledges regarding global warming, carbon footprint, climate change, biodiversity, ESG, recycling etc. The popularity of these terms is gaining on importance even in comparison with global news such as the release of the new 📲iPhone 13 .

Search Frequency Comparison. Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term. (Google Trends)

Given the rising importance of these topics, businesses should ask themselves a question, if there are any advantages in calculating Carbon Footprint today. And the answer is Yes!

Companies can benefit from the calculation of their Carbon Footprint by either Saving Costs or Increasing Revenues.

Save

1. ⚡️🔋 Energy Savings — CO2 emissions are closely linked with energy expenses. Starting with Carbon Footprint calculation can thus help to identify excessive energy usage or other inefficiencies. Reducing GHG emissions then usually goes hand in hand with increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness in a company’s processes. Alternatively companies can also target the heating efficiency of its buildings, for instance through improved glazing. All of the above Greenhouse Gas savings together with the rising electricity energy prices can greatly contribute to cost savings on the company’s balance sheet 💵 .
2. 🚗 🚢 Transport Savings—The second largest item on a company’s sustainability accounting balance sheet are usually transport-related CO2 emissions. Learning how to optimize the means of business travel, car sharing and logistics for a sizable business opportunity together with helping to reduce the carbon footprint’s negative impact on the environment.
3. 🗑 📄 Waste savings — Looking at the amounts of paper, INK cartridge, plastic bottles, soda cans, food etc. in your office can also paint an interesting picture about your carbon footprint. On the other hand, such inefficiencies pose an opportunity for savings, both for your company as well as for our planet 🌍 .
4. ☁️ 💰 Price of Carbon — On top of the internal expenses, more and more companies are becoming obliged to participate in mandatory Carbon trading schemes where they have to pay for each tonne of CO2 they emit. In EU, these Carbon trading schemes cover approximately 40% of all EU industries but more and more industries will be added in the near future. Monitoring and lowering business carbon emissions is thus not only becoming an obligation, but also it forms a business opportunity. This opportunity is however available only after doing the first step, calculating carbon emissions.

Carbon Pricing Schemes (World Bank)

Earn

1. ♻️ 😎 Sustainable is the new sexy — Consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products with low carbon footprint. Consumers are willing to readjust their value tree 🌳 where usually price and availability play the most important role. In this regard, if a product is branded as eco-friendly 60% of internet users say they’ll pay more for products that are eco-friendly.
2. 🏢🏭Supply Chain — Businesses whose customers demand sustainable products are rigorous in screening thoroughly their suppliers’ carbon footprint and sustainable practices. Being ready for such challenges with audited carbon footprint measurements can help to speed up onboarding and create new business partnerships.
3. 📚 🏅 Sustainability records — Starting to track your carbon footprint and the overall sustainability history is paramount for two reasons. I. some banks are already today starting to provide better interest rates to companies who can prove their sustainability record with auditable records. II. Starting today and improving your footprint voluntarily can help your company tap into larger carbon footprint reduction improvements in comparison with starting tomorrow.
4. 🔝📈 Better performance (ESG) — Sustainable companies with strong ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) tend to be larger in market capitalization and more mature with higher earnings and dividend yields. On top of that S&P’s analysis included 26 ESG exchange-traded funds and mutual funds with more than $250 million in assets under management in its latest study focusing on ESGs. In the 12-month period from March 5, 2020 to March 5, 2021, the funds outpaced S&P 500 index’s growth of 27.1 percent by growing between 27.3 percent and 55 percent.

Market Performance (S&P 500)

How to start?

Companies interested in starting today should find the right partner to help calculate carbon emissions and a tool to manage them:

1. Gather the relevant data about your company’s energy usage, transportation, buildings and other attributes
2. Analyse the data with the help of a standardised reporting and data visualisation tool (e.g. Green0meter: https://www.green0meter.com/application-for-co2e-reporting/)
3. Propose and prioritize sustainable measures, calculate the return on investment and the business case on the way to reducing your carbon footprint
4. Plan specific steps to reduce carbon footprint whilst having the business case in mind