Yes, you read that title right. Small and medium businesses can and should plan for emissions reduction. Whether you agree with taking action against climate change or not is another discussion. But regardless of how tiny you think your carbon footprint might be, aiming to reduce your business's emissions just makes business sense. Research from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) reflects that a whopping 82% of Kiwi consumers want businesses to do more to reduce their environmental impact! Your business very likely serves at least a portion of these buyers who would love to throw their consumer power behind businesses that take action on climate change!
So, in this post, I will first briefly explain what an emissions reduction plan is. Then I'll discuss its benefits and give you a quick guide on how to put one together for your business.
First things first, what do we mean by an emissions reduction plan?
An emission reduction plan is a comprehensive strategy that you develop to reduce your business's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or simply put, carbon footprint. The main objective of the plan is to identify the sources of emissions, monitor them over time, and take action to reduce or eliminate them.
Speaking of actions, one of the main ones that you would take to sort out your carbon footprint will be to take an unbiased and objective look at your entire operation. This exercise will aim to find opportunities where you can do things more efficiently and comes with a whole lot of great things for your business. let's talk about some of the benefits of a reduction plan and a few examples:
1. Business efficiency and cost saving:
As I said before, one of the great benefits of looking for sources of emissions is that you end up looking at the details of how you run your daily operations. Things like how you travel to work and back, your business's vehicles, your energy bills, and water consumption. More often than not business owners find small opportunities to make improvements to run a more efficient business. By implementing energy efficiency measures, for example, organisations can reduce their energy consumption and save money on utility bills.
2. Attract customers, improve your image, and gain a competitive edge:
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the vast majority of buyers in New Zealand want businesses to do more to reduce their environmental impact. Emission reduction planning can help you show these consumers that you are committed to preserving our planet which will lead to a positive public image and reputation. This can help to build trust with customers, employees, and other important stakeholders who value these qualities and differentiate your business from your competitors.
3. Leave the planet better than you found it:
This one is a no-brainer. One of the immediate benefits of emission reduction planning is that it helps to protect the environment by reducing emissions. This can help slow the pace of climate change, limit the negative impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, and help us leave the planet better than we found it. Let's be honest, the current outlook for our planet is not looking too great. So every little bit counts!
4. You have a lot of help and support:
Over the past few years, the New Zealand Government has upped its game and offers a lot more resources, funding, and support in different forms for businesses of different sizes that are trying to be more sustainable. Check out The Climate Action Toolbox, Genless, and ECCA's website to learn more. Or if you still need help, contact us at engage@penna.co.nz.
Planning for emissions reduction
If you are keen to do your part, here are a few simple steps you can take to make your own effective emission reduction plan:
Step 1: Emissions inventory
The first thing to do is to step back and look at every aspect of your operations. What daily actions do you take to run your business? what do your energy consumption and travel habits look like? How do you manage waste? Do you consume a lot of fuel? Identify all sources that can contribute to your carbon footprint. Remember, this step will also help you run a significantly more efficient business, which could save you some costs.
You can use the emissions calculator provided by Climate Action Tool Box to calculate your emissions.
Step 2: Set goals and establish a baseline
The next step is to set clear goals and establish a baseline so you can measure your progress against it. This involves determining what emissions reduction targets are realistic and achievable, and then tracking progress over time to ensure that these targets are being met.
Step 3: Develop strategies to reduce emissions
Once the sources of emissions have been identified and your objectives are set, the next step is to develop strategies to reduce your carbon footprint for each source. This might involve implementing energy efficiency measures like using smart meters to monitor your electricity consumption, switching to renewable energy sources, improving transportation efficiency, asking your staff to work from home one day a week if possible, and reducing waste.
Step 4: Implement and monitor the plan
Once the emissions reduction plan has been developed, it is important to implement it and keep an eye on your progress over time. This might involve tracking energy and fuel consumption, waste management, and other factors to ensure that emissions are being reduced as planned. Remember to introduce changes slowly and focus on making small, incremental changes that will help you achieve your goals.
Step 5: Continuously improve the plan
Finally, it is important to continuously improve the emissions reduction plan over time. This might involve identifying new opportunities to reduce emissions, adjusting strategies as needed, and setting new goals as progress is made.
Here is a bonus tip. Invest in behaviour change for your people! This includes having regular check-ins with your staff to see how they are keeping up with the new changes. More often than not they have new ideas with fresh perspectives.
Overall, emissions reduction planning is a critical step in addressing the challenges of climate change.
If you need help putting your plan together or have any questions, let us know!
