Wind back the clock 40 years, and it would be hard to find the existence of the term carbon neutral featuring anywhere in our everyday vernacular. Roger Cohen from C2Zero looks at how things have changed.
Industry throughout the 70s and 80s had a different focus, to forge ahead without consideration for the impact it was having.
The simple objective was to create supply to meet demand and then, somewhat paradoxically, to create demand to meet supply. Growth was the focus.
But times have changed. Catastrophic climate events and consistent scientific evidence means all of us have some level of understanding about the impact humans have on the planet.
For the business world, the saying “ignorance is no excuse” has never been more applicable. No industry or business can now claim they “didn’t know”.
Industries can see that growth depends upon successfully managing the green transition.
Consumer demand is also driving change. Younger demographics, which are now the biggest purchasing cohort, are demanding cleaner, greener, more environmentally – and socially – friendly products.
In this emerging market, there is myriad green terms making a lot of noise. The dynamic nature of the food and beverage sector means claims, and labels can be confusing, misunderstood and even misleading.
Appropriately, this lack of clarity is attracting scrutiny from consumers and regulators alike. This year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced it was targeting companies making misleading claims on their environmental credentials.
The reality is, making claims about your environmental credentials carries with it expectations of good environmental citizenry.
For businesses and consumers, the goal is now to transition from being a carbon emitter to a net zero producer. The goal must be to pursue impact over image.
The first brands to fall behind will be the ones that dismiss the need for change. They will be quickly followed by those that fail to keep tabs on the landscape changing around them.
Environmental impact and risk extend beyond our focus here on carbon emissions. The same approach applies to all other environmental impacts including water and land usage, physical waste disposal and more.
Leaders will then take this knowledge and begin applying it to their operations. Today, taking responsibility for your carbon footprint is a bold step – but not so for long. Actions to reduce your footprint will never go out of fashion, compared to companies that are simply offsetting their emissions and adopting a “offset and forget” approach.
Fortunately, industry is in this together. Economies of scale will come as whole sectors transform. The food and beverage sector has begun to work hard on retooling its approach towards reducing the carbon footprint of their supply chain – with more work ahead.
But those go beyond the status quo by providing novel solutions will place themselves at an advantage.
Also, leaders will welcome scrutiny, anticipate it, and prioritise actions accordingly. The need for this may be painfully familiar for those engaged in the voluntary carbon markets, but consumers increasingly expect transparency, are more discerning, and have multiple channels to pursue the truth.
Carbon neutrality is only as good as how you get there.
Carbon jargon 101
A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions a business has some degree of responsibility for.
There are many different greenhouse gases, so we convert them to carbon dioxide equivalents, or CO2e. According to the federal Clean Energy Regulator, one tonne of methane (a greenhouse gas emitted by animals) has the same carbon footprint as approximately 25 tonnes of CO2.
Emissions are classified as Scope 1, 2, or 3. A lifecycle analysis is completed to detail the total environmental impact of a business, product, or activity, from cradle to grave.
Scope 1: emissions directly caused by sources directly controlled;
Scope 2: emissions related to purchased energy usage; and
Scope 3: emissions from unowned sources both upstream and downstream in the value chain.
Other useful terms to understand:
CO2e: a measurement of the greenhouse gases emitted, expressed in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Carbon footprint: the amount of CO2e emitted because of an entity’s activities. The carbon footprint should specify the scope (1,2,3) it applies to.
Carbon neutral: balancing one’s carbon footprint by taking an equal and positive action to remove emissions, both directly and through carbon offsetting.
Carbon negative (AKA climate positive): removing more emissions than your footprint.
Carbon credits: any tradable certificate representing one tonne of carbon emissions, often generated by projects which have an environmental benefit to be sold for the purposes of carbon offsetting. There is much ambiguity around the quality and efficacy of carbon credits, which is not discussed here.
Emissions allowances: jurisdiction-specific permission slips used to set a quota or ‘cap on pollution by large emitters
Roger Cohen is the CEO and Founder of C2Zero.
