Carbon Management Strategy

Transcription

1 Carbon Management Strategy Position Paper and Capability Statement Carbon Management Strategy Sustainable Business Consulting Pty Ltd Level 21, 201 Miller Street, North Sydney 2060 P: F: ACN ABN

2 The Business Case for Carbon Management Why would an organisation decide to calculate their carbon emissions? Would this not be a cumbersome task that is either taking already stretched employees away from much more important business tasks or costing money to hire someone external? Who would be interested in how much carbon an organisation is emitting year on year? The world has changed. Companies who ignore the new developments, who do not know their carbon footprint and take steps to reduce it, might soon lag behind their competition. Growing scientific evidence and media awareness that climate change is associated with our carbon emissions has led key economies of the world to introduce more than 293 legislations over the last few years with the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian government implemented a number of schemes and legislations that already require more than 1000 organisations to report on their carbon footprint. These changes are pervasive and have flow-on effects which will ripple through the entire economy. It is estimated that organisations as small as 100 staff will fall under these legislations by And it can be expected that there will be even more regulations going forward, as an increased occurrence of climate change related catastrophes is likely, which might lead to overnight change in policy due to public pressure. These days there is increasing pressure on companies to report on their impact on the environment, something that is usually done in Corporate Social Responsibility reports, or through voluntary schemes like the Carbon Disclosure Project. The community expects companies to do the right thing and companies can no longer turn a blind eye to this. Increasingly, measuring and managing carbon liability is seen as good risk management practice by leading companies, as investors are looking at the carbon exposure when they assess the impact of climate change and a price on carbon for a particular company. Firms leading on carbon reductions are already experiencing benefits through cost savings by reducing energy consumption, minimising waste, by making alternative travel arrangements and by reducing fuel usage. In addition, low carbon products offer new market opportunities and revenue streams. Moving Australia to a low carbon economy will represent enormous risks and opportunities for the sustainability of many organisations. It makes good business sense to act on carbon now. Consider the following questions Does or will my company fall under any legislation? What are my competitors, peers and customers doing? How would a price on carbon pollution of $10, $20 or $50 per tonne of carbon impact my business? Can I readily provide the carbon footprint of my organisation if required? How can I reduce my carbon footprint and by how much? Should I invest in abatement or reduction strategies? What are the implications of not acting? Page 2 of 7

3 Risks Already industries in Australia are experiencing the need for a carbon management strategy in order to identify and label the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per product (for example meat producers exporting to Wal-Mart in the U.S.). This will increasingly become the norm for exporting industries and will result in a flow-on effect to smaller companies that need to carbon-label their product or demonstrate adherence to carbon reduction targets. image with their consumers, thus maybe taking away your customers? Do you know what your competitors are up to in terms of carbon management? Are they looking at their carbon exposure and trying to minimise it right now? Are their advisors telling them that a price on carbon is not as far away as they would imagine it to be? Are they already one step ahead by knowing their carbon footprint AND acting on it? Does your organisation know the organisational carbon footprint and what the potential implications of a price on carbon would be? Do you think that your competitors would try and gain competitive advantage by openly advertising their carbon reduction measures and gain a positive And what about your supply chain? Have you recently received a letter from your business partners asking for your carbon exposure and expecting you to do something about it? Your partners might be in a strong market position (for instance Aldi), or might be facing pressure from regulations or the market, or even be early movers. Can you risk not knowing your exposure and having the time to adjust, rather than being caught on the back foot and trying to struggle to demonstrate commitment that your organisation might not have - due to, for instance, lack of employee support? Have you recently tried to win a proposal, with the government for example, and seen that they are increasingly interested in your sustainability strategy and what you are doing about carbon? Already your organisation may fall under a greenhouse gas regulation, be it a Commonwealth (e.g., NGER) or a state-level one. Are you aware of the thresholds for these legislations and do you know whether your organisation triggers them? Non-compliance will have a financial impact on organisations, as well as their company directors. In addition you might suffer reputational damage from non-compliance - and brand is the only thing that sets you apart from your competitors. It can also be expected that there will be legal action against heavy polluters, similar to law suits that happened in the tobacco industry. Demonstrating to the market and to investors that you understand and manage risk properly, including carbon risk, will improve the market value of your company. Page 3 of 7

4 Opportunities Significant financial savings and a positive environmental contribution can be made even in carbonintensive industries, like transport. Linfox is a great example of an Australian organisation that has achieved just that. What organisation wants to achieve cost savings without the usual downsizing or without compromising on quality? And what organisation wants to achieve those cost savings while at the same thing doing something good for the environment? Organisations that are going through NGER adoption or decide to voluntarily report on carbon (for instance through the Carbon Disclosure Project or even report only internally) are presented with a unique opportunity: to become more cost effective and efficient. The carbon report will identify quick wins as well as strategic projects which will help save costs and increase efficiency in your organisation. Reporting on carbon emissions will focus attention on areas where significant cost savings can be achieved with an attractive Return On Investment (ROI). Setting goals to reduce the organisation s carbon emissions and having a clear carbon management strategy has a positive impact on employee engagement and morale. People are usually genuinely concerned about this topic and this reflects positively in the organisation s reputation. And in the war for talent it is necessary to be seen as a socially responsible employer to attract and retain talent. This is especially true for an organisation with an aging workforce. A future price on carbon might represent an opportunity for a company to have less carbon exposure compared to their competitors, thereby having fewer expenses, thereby being able to offer a product more cheaply. Offering less carbon intensive products will also open new markets and attract new customers as more and more customers are aware of the impact that organisations have on climate change and demand action. Organisations which are early adopters will reap the benefits. Think about how Toyota dominated the early hybrid market, while other car companies like GM were lagging behind. Already companies are already offering carbon neutral products for instance the Reflex Carbon Neutral Paper offered by Corporate Express or carbon neutral coffee by your coffee shop next door. Change is happening and by acting now opportunities will present themselves that would not have come up otherwise. Come and talk to a Sustainable Business Consultant representative now to discuss how we can help your organisation with your carbon management strategy. Page 4 of 7

5 Service Offering We will help your organisation establish a fit for purpose carbon management strategy that is future-proof. A typical engagement would follow the steps as outlined in the graphic below: Page 5 of 7

6 We will start by familiarising ourselves with your business strategy, your key business processes and your carbon drivers to enable us to better shape our carbon solution to your needs. We will look at your facilities, your operations, your transportation arrangements, your business travel and your purchases to see where you emit greenhouse gases in your workplace. We will advise you on what kind of activity data will need to be extracted from your organisational records. Activity data is crucial to correctly calculate carbon emissions. The data can come in many forms, be it in spread sheets, paper bills, enterprise databases, or building management systems. Activity data might even be kept informally in employees notes or in their heads. We will help you with identifying the most appropriate, accurate data. After we have received the necessary information we will calculate the inventory for you, or if you prefer, hold training workshops with your employees to show them how to do the calculations. The methodology we follow for calculating the carbon inventory is compliant with The GHG Protocol and ISO : 2006, thus making it easy getting the inventory certified by auditors. The carbon inventory will form the core of the carbon report, which will give you a complete analysis of your carbon liability, along with the financial implications of a future carbon price. You will also know whether your emissions trigger any legislative thresholds and what your relative carbon performance looks like, which is important from a trend and benchmarking analysis. If this is your first carbon inventory you may need help with adjusting internal carbon measurement, reporting and communication procedures. We have experience with defining such a framework and we can show you what organisational changes you need to implement. We have also got experience with communicating carbon results to organisational stakeholders. The next part of the engagement is all about how you can save cost and have a positive impact on the environment at the same time. We will work with you on defining your carbon reduction goals and will show you what strategies, initiatives and projects you can implement to take you on your carbon reduction journey. We have a proven methodology on how we work out the carbon reduction projects that will optimise your environmental and business outcomes, including reducing costs, building reputation, improving market opportunity and reducing business risk. Sustainable Business Consulting can also help you with the implementation of your carbon reduction projects. We have experience with helping organisations engage their employees, which is a crucial step in successfully reducing carbon. We also know how to best communicate your carbon reduction efforts to your supply chain. We can advise you on necessary policies and organisational change and how your systems can be improved to support your reduction targets, all the while helping you save cost and get prepared for the future. Talk to a Sustainable Business Consulting representative and we will partner with you to measure and manage your carbon emissions and help you improve your bottom line by saving cost, while at the same time doing something good for the environment. There is no better time to making sure your business is sustainable than right now. Page 6 of 7

7 Copyright 2010 Sustainable Business Consulting All rights reserved Sustainable Business Consulting has experience in carbon accounting and management, climate change strategy, risk and opportunities management, employee engagement and Green IT. We are in the business of helping organisations transition to a low carbon economy, because we believe that business growth can be decoupled from a growth in carbon emissions. We also believe that doing something good for the environment will in most cases have a positive effect on an organisation s bottom line. Sustainable Business Consulting strives to be a trusted partner in an organisation s endeavour to manage climate change related risks and embrace the new opportunities offered. Our values are to provide vendor-independent, honest advice to customers, in a highly professional way. This paper details how Sustainable Business Consulting can help you with your carbon management strategy. For more information on how we can assist you with your climate change strategy please refer to our Climate Change Capability Statement. If you require help with making your Information Technology greener, then please have a look at our Green IT Capability Statement. We are looking forward to working with you. Please contact: Barbara Albert MD and Principal Consultant M: E: b.albert@sustainablebizconsulting.com.au Sustainable Business Consulting Pty Ltd Level 21, 201 Miller Street, North Sydney 2060 P: F: ACN ABN Page 7 of 7 Printed on 100% recycled post-consumer waste paper