Top 5 Steps to Start Your Organization's Climate Action Journey
Solving the climate crisis is the biggest economic opportunity of our lifetimes, and essential to ensuring that future generations are able to thrive on this planet. All organizations from small start-ups to multinational corporations have a role to play. If your company is just beginning to work in this space, these tips will give you a sense of the first steps to take action on climate, beginning with measuring emissions.
“Stakeholders expect every company, large and small, public and private, to have a climate action plan at this point in time. To be effective, your plan must align with science, with climate justice, and with the principles of a just transition. There’s no time to waste,”
says Pete Dignan, who co-teaches the new Climate Action for Business executive program at Leeds.
The program goes into the below steps and more in additional detail. It serves as an informative crash course in climate solutions for companies that are just starting out.
Measure your emissions
As is the case in any area where you are trying to make change, the process has to start with understanding your baseline. In the case of climate action, this means developing an understanding of your GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions. You will want to use the , from the GHG Protocol, which provides the accounting platform for virtually every corporate GHG reporting program in the world. You will be accounting for three types of emissions, Scope 1 (mainly emissions from fuel burned in owned or controlled assets), Scope 2 (emissions from purchased electricity), and Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions).
Set a science-based target for emissions reduction
Once you understand your company’s baseline, the next step is to set a goal for improvement. This goal must be based on science so that your work contributes to the global goal to cut emissions in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. These steps would mean we avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change by ensuring that global warming will not exceed 1.5°C. Companies can set appropriate goals through the (SBTi).
Engage internal stakeholders
To meet ambitious science-based targets, the whole company needs to be involved. Boards need to add members with climate expertise, train current members and be in alignment with climate goals. Climate goals need to be tied to executive targets, KPIs and compensation. Companies need to take steps to make every job a climate job by identifying how each functional area can contribute. All of this requires providing educational opportunities, aligning incentives with climate solutions and fostering a culture of innovation.
Reduce emissions
The steps to take to reduce emissions will vary for each organization. Some actions that many companies take include improving energy efficiency, reducing physical space, electrifying buildings, shifting to use electric vehicles, improving IT practices (data centers, cloud storage), sourcing renewable energy and reducing Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 is by far the largest source of emissions for most organizations, as it includes both upstream and downstream emissions. Work in this area involves influencing, supporting and innovating with suppliers to measure and reduce their emissions, along with considering the climate impact of all business choices, from food and travel to investments. The is a great resource for purchasing renewable energy.
Disclose progress
Disclosure, or reporting, is key to success and accountability in pursuing climate goals. Disclosure should be transparent, third-party verified and include both areas where the company is meeting targets, and places where it is not, along with plans to improve. Several frameworks exist for how to report on environmental impacts, including , the (TCFD), and the GHG Protocol. In March of 2022 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures. The rules would require all public companies, regardless of size, to report Scope 1 & 2 emissions, and require larger companies to disclose Scope 3 emissions in some cases.
These steps are just the beginning of work companies can do to leverage the opportunity of addressing climate change and to save our planet for future generations. Policy advocacy is an important part of ensuring all organizations contribute and we limit global warming to 1.5°C. Companies can gain the most benefit and be the most effective in taking action on climate change by transforming their business model to embed climate solutions throughout operations and shifting their priorities from short-term profits to long-term health of the organization.
Grow your knowledge of these topics, begin to understand how to put them into practice, and create a climate action plan for your organization in the Climate Action for Business executive program, enrolling now.
The steps outlined in this article are based on the Solutions at Work Framework.