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Best Net-Zero Strategies for Businesses Who Want to Make a Change
Last updated: May, 2023
Shifting to net-zero emissions is a defining factor for business success and longevity.
As consumers, employees, and investors increasingly prioritize environmental sustainability, companies recognize that reducing their carbon footprint is not just about compliance but competitiveness and survival.
Adopting a net-zero strategy means reimaging how your business operates in the world and asking yourself what you can do to promote sustainability beyond switching your light bulbs in the office.
The strategies we’re about to explore provide a blueprint for businesses to innovate, adapt, and lead in an eco-conscious era.
What is Net-Zero?
Net-zero is the balance between the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere and the amount removed.
Achieving net-zero means that a company is not adding new emissions to the atmosphere. This doesn’t imply that there are no emissions. Instead, it’s about ensuring that equivalent emissions are offset, effectively bringing the net added emissions to zero.
However, that doesn’t mean you can cancel out your emissions via offsets and claim “net-zero emissions.” You first need to cut your emissions as much as possible.
Only then can you turn to carbon offsetting to balance out the emissions you’re putting into the atmosphere.
RELATED: Use These Net Zero Tools to Meet Your Carbon Footprint Targets
The Best Net-Zero Strategies for Businesses
Adopting effective net-zero strategies is crucial for achieving sustainability goals. Here are some of the best strategies for reducing your carbon footprint, fostering sustainable behavior, and moving towards a net-zero future.
1. Develop Detailed, Time-Specific Roadmaps
The first step towards a net-zero solution is a plan.
You need a detailed, time-specific roadmap to keep your business on the right track and ensure everything is clear about what actions or behaviors need to change.
To begin, start with a thorough assessment of the three types of emissions defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:
- The emissions your company makes onsite (e.g., fumes from your delivery vehicles)
- The emissions you indirectly create on site (e.g., your heating or cooling systems)
- The emissions you create up and downstream the value chain (e.g., use of sold products)
Once you clearly understand where your company is leaking emissions, the next step is to identify opportunities for reduction.
For example:
- Switching to renewable energy sources
- Upgrading to energy-saving appliances
- Rethinking your supply chain management
The key is ensuring each action has a corresponding timeline and that your roadmap is a living document. You need to constantly revisit it, especially as your company grows, to ensure you’re on track with your goals and adapting to the changing environmental landscape.
2. Focus on Green Infrastructure and Architecture
Green infrastructure and architecture go beyond cosmetic changes.
It’s about creating sustainable business operations.
In a net-zero solution strategy, this looks like upgrading or constructing buildings and infrastructure that adhere to green building standards.
For example:
- Using energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems
- Utilising renewable energy sources like solar panels
- Reducing water consumption
- Investing in sustainable IT infrastructure like cloud solutions
- Switching to a fleet of electric or hybrid vehicles
By implementing smart building technologies and making buildings environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life cycle, you can optimize your energy usage and reduce operational costs while minimizing your environmental impact.
RELATED: What is Increasing Your Ecological Footprint in Business?
3. Employee Education and Engagement
When it comes to implementing your net-zero solution, you need the help of your employees.
Without company-wide engagement and adoption, you’ll struggle to tick off your emissions reduction goals.
How do you create a culture of sustainability? Where every employee is aware of their environmental impact and wants to make a change?
Education.
It’s a two-fold strategy.
First, you need to educate employees about climate change and its consequences.
Second, you need to make sure your employees are aware of your sustainability goals, progress, and strategies.
That’s where a solution like Emission Sentri can help.
You’re no longer educating your employees once a quarter. Instead, you have a live dashboard and suite of tools to drive behavioral change at scale.
Through the platform, you can educate your staff with awareness training certifications, track your commitment to net-zero in real time, and use generative AI for personalized recommendations on how employees can contribute to your emissions reduction plan.
In short, it helps you create a shared commitment to reducing your carbon footprint and empowering everyone to contribute to your net-zero goal.
4. Embrace Circular Economy Principles
In a circular economy, you need to reconsider your product design.
Instead of making single-use or poor-quality items, your entire product life cycle needs to take center stage.
Are your products easy to repair, refurbish, or recycle?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions, you have a sustainable product that reduces waste and the demand for new resources.
Another crucial part of your circular economy is supply chain management and your customers. You need to make an effort to ensure you’re using suppliers who use the same ethos and source resources responsibly.
The same goes for your customers.
Create incentives for returning used products (Lush, an eco-friendly cosmetic brand, rewards its customers for bringing back empty containers) and think of how to shift consumer behavior towards more sustainable practices.
5. Finally, Start Carbon Off-Setting
As mentioned earlier, a carbon off-setting strategy only comes into play once you’ve done everything to reduce your direct and indirect emissions.
Once that is in place, you can look at compensating for every ton of CO2 your business emits with carbon dioxide-saving projects.
Native, is one of the world leaders in carbon-off-setting projects.
It helps organizations and individuals participate in activating climate solutions like:
- Regenerative farming
- Clean water projects
- Green bricks initiatives
- Wind and solar farms
These projects reduce emissions and provide broader social and environmental benefits, like biodiversity conservation and job creation in local communities.
Remember, when selecting credible projects, always look for third-party certifications, like the Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard, to ensure you’re contributing towards projects that are verifiable, traceable, and would not have happened without the funding provided by the offsets.
6. Invest in Innovation for Net-Zero
Investing in innovation is a net-zero strategy for actively partnering with other organizations to develop new technologies or processes to reduce carbon emissions.
Investing in innovation means:
- Funding research and development in emerging green technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).
- Investing in advanced renewable energy technologies or next-generation batteries for energy storage.
- Partnering with other businesses and research institutions to co-develop sustainable solutions.
Innovation in this context is not limited to product development; it also includes innovative approaches to business models, supply chain management, and resource utilization.
Co-investing with other companies, especially those in different sectors, can also spread the risk and cost associated with innovation. It allows for pooling resources, knowledge, and expertise, leading to more efficient and effective solutions.
This strategy is crucial because the path to net-zero requires not just the adaptation of existing technologies but also the development of new solutions that can transform how businesses operate and interact with the environment.
It relies on the fact that no single company can tackle climate change alone. By collaborating, businesses can directly drive the technological advancements necessary to achieve a sustainable, net-zero future.
Conclusion
The path to net-zero is not only about what you do. It’s also about how you engage your team in these net-zero strategies.
Emission Sentri stands out as a valuable tool in providing a practical solution for involving your team in the company’s environmental goals. Its features, like real-time tracking and AI recommendation, will help simplify and amplify your journey to net-zero at scale.
So, what’s the next step?
It’s time to bring these strategies to life in your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some commonly asked questions and answers to help deepen your understanding of net-zero strategies for businesses.
1. Are there financial benefits to pursuing net-zero strategies for businesses?
Yes, there are several financial benefits. Reducing energy consumption through efficiency improvements can lower operational costs. Additionally, adopting sustainable practices can enhance a company’s brand reputation, making it more attractive to consumers and investors who are increasingly valuing environmental responsibility. In some cases, tax incentives or grants may also be available for companies pursuing green initiatives.
2. Is it sufficient for businesses to just offset their emissions to achieve net-zero?
While offsetting emissions is a component of achieving net-zero, it should not be the sole focus. The priority should always be to reduce emissions directly through changes in business practices and operations. After all possible reduction measures have been implemented, offsetting is the last step to neutralize remaining emissions.
3. What are the challenges of net-zero emissions?
The challenges include the initial investment required for technology and infrastructure upgrades, the need for comprehensive planning and implementation, potential disruptions in traditional business models, and staying updated with evolving environmental regulations. Overcoming these challenges requires a strategic approach, long-term commitment, and sometimes a cultural shift within the organization.