How to make your company carbon neutral

Climate science clearly tells us that we are heading towards a crisis that will affect all lines of business that are important to you and to all the people whose lives you are trying to improve.

Public policies and international diplomacy will only take us a fraction of the way.

Even if all our governments perfectly executed all the transformations they promised, strong climate action would still be necessary to avoid irreversible consequences.

This is where the private sector comes in. A survey conducted by Toroto found that 84.95% of “millennial” women in Mexico City agree with the following statement: “I would like my favorite brands to take action to neutralize their carbon footprint”, and they are right, the involvement of the private sector is a critical factor in the success of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This is also important for employees. A group of climate activists within the Amazon group played an important role in convincing Jeff Bezos to grant a $10 billion donation for climate initiatives. Amazon also promised to become carbon neutral soon.

It's increasingly clear that employees expect the companies they work for to do their best to reduce their impact on the environment, and shareholder meetings around the world are listening to them.

Making your company carbon neutral is now easier, more cost-effective and completely science-based. How is it done?

1. Talk about your intentions with all stakeholders, such as employees, investors and customers. Tell them why it's important to address climate change issues.

2. Designate 1 to 3 colleagues who are personally responsible for carrying out this project.

3. Take 3 to 5 minutes in weekly meetings to discuss important progress.

4. Measure your company's carbon footprint. We do this free of charge for certain businesses; be sure to ask if yours is eligible.

5. Decide on a mitigation plan to reduce your carbon footprint and environmental impact. It has to be measurable.

6. Neutralize your carbon footprint through forest management. This means working with forests that help capture more CO2 through photosynthesis.

7. Communicate your strategy to investors, collaborators and clients, and make them part of the solution.

8. Create a culture of sustainability in your organization, and build a more resilient environment for the operation of your company.

How does it work to make your company carbon neutral? The first big step is to measure your carbon footprint. It's possible to do this because we understand how CO2 is produced. Your carbon footprint will be proportional to the amount of fuel you burn, the amount of food you buy, the electricity you use, and the purchase of services you need to operate.

Once we know how your carbon footprint behaves and where it comes from, we can create strategies to reduce it. A lot of this is good news for your CFO, because spending money = polluting the environment. Reduce pollution = save (financial) resources.

That said, the thing to understand is that no matter how hard we work to reduce your emissions, it's impossible to get to zero. Energy-efficient light bulbs have a carbon footprint. The use of computers has a carbon footprint. Transportation, including electric transport, has a carbon footprint.

This is why it's important to also capture CO2 from the atmosphere, and put it back on the Earth's surface where it belongs. Being carbon neutral means capturing an amount of CO2 equal to or greater than your carbon footprint, and therefore achieving neutral emissions.

Carbon capture has developed tremendously in the last decade, but the most widely used solution is as old as the Earth itself: photosynthesis. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They clean the air we breathe, and they have been doing so for years.

Unfortunately, increased carbon emissions combined with massive deforestation are limiting the ability of forests to naturally capture as much carbon dioxide as they could. We can help.

Through forest management, it is possible to do two extremely important things:

1. Increase the forest's capacity to capture CO2

2. Increase forest area by means of thousands of hectares

And surprisingly, it's also possible to precisely measure the amount of carbon dioxide that is captured by a forest each year. To do this, one needs to measure the increase in the volume of wood in the forest from one year to the next. Up to 50% of this new wood is carbon that was causing climate problems and now provides matter to a tree.

We then equate the amount of carbon captured with the carbon footprints of our clients, ensuring that we are helping to develop forestry projects that take as much CO2 from the atmosphere as your company produces. Supported by world-class science and verification systems, this is a tool that can provide needed relief in the fight against climate change.

It's also important to recognize that no two companies are the same. Tailored solutions must exist for each organization, and our best ally in doing so is technology. We can develop strategies that meet your needs and are perfectly adapted to your operation using ad-hoc software and processes.

A friend put it in a simpler way the other day while we were discussing this post. He told me, “so not being carbon neutral is like living in a condominium without paying for maintenance,” and he's right. We live in a condominium where garbage hasn't been collected for decades and it's time to do something about it.

This is an exciting project for any company. A culture of sustainability at the heart of your daily operation will make your company grow and increase communication with your audience. We can help every step of the way in an intelligent, efficient and science-based way. Make sure to contact us using the button on the bottom right. We will write to you very soon.