Earth Day: How Employers Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Recent work stoppages, such as detours due to heat from roads and train tracks, and random bushfires in London, may cause global warming.

It just so happens that today is the day of overlapping lands. One day each year when humanity passes the annual ecological replenishment point.

Unfortunately, that day has come earlier than ever this year.

Overshoot Day takes place early each year when the coronavirus disrupts the supply chain, travel, social events and just about everything else, despite the short break in 2020.

In other words, we run out of 1.75% of the Earth’s natural resources each year.

And while we all make individual efforts to reduce our footprint, businesses also have a role to play.

As the Earth Day landing page reveals:

But the greatest potential for large-scale impact is for governments and businesses to align their policies and strategies with the reality of our finite planet.

So aside from your personal decision to cut back, what can your employer do to help climate change and thus reduce the risk of more catastrophic fever?

Fortunately, companies are usually made up of people, and most of the time people want to improve because of the weather.

“It’s not about attitude, it’s about that. WhatSam Jackson, Senior Manager of Environmental and Climate Impacts at Ecologi, explains.

“This is the case with a lot of TK. Well, if you’re a big company with a lot of entities and employees, you’re setting the pace and the process, so it’s time to change. It might be really hard for you.” “And you have. To keep making money, you need to keep the board happy.”

“You can feel like you’re trying to fly a cruise ship, and the changes are made inch by inch.

“But this is our position and there are guiding hands to help move the needle.”

The Green Team is dedicated to helping businesses protect the environment. Whatever the reason, be it public relations, regulatory requirements, or simply the desire to do the right thing. The company currently has a beta platform called Ecologi Zero, which acts as a one-stop shop for companies to determine how they can make changes and take specific actions. This is the registration page.

Obviously, there is no single solution to this problem. However, there are some areas that are more used.

Shipment

“Most of our business emissions come from Scope 3, which means value chain or supply chain products,” Jackson told us. “Usually it’s about travel and transportation.”

“These kinds of interventions can be really effective and easy wins.”

“When we transport people around the world, most of our emissions come from it.

So have you considered flying less and implementing sustainable travel policies?

“Also, instead of forcing people to drive to the office, just say employees can work from home or fully hybrid and remote.

“Such interventions can really solve the problem.

One of the best options available to businesses is the Cycle to Work scheme, which encourages employees to use two wheels instead of four to get to the office.

The Cycle to Work program is a government initiative aimed at encouraging employees to use the bicycle as a means of transportation to the workplace.

Since last year, the scheme has been used by 40,000 employers across the UK, claiming to have helped more than 1.6 million workers get to work.

Launched in 1999, the employer essentially buys a bike for an employee, and then the employee “rents” the employer-purchased bike at the expense of a year’s salary.

At the end of the 12-month “employment” period, employees buy bikes from their employers at fair market prices (FMV) approved by HMR Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The advantage of this scheme is that the amount paid from the salary for monthly bicycle payments comes before taxes and national insurance contributions. Therefore, that amount comes from your total salary, not your take-home pay. This saves money on both income tax and national insurance donations, but obviously the money goes to the bike.

food

It may seem small, but if your company has a cafeteria, you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by switching to plant-based products.

Studies show that food production accounts for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and half of the planet’s livelihood.

Meat and dairy products, in particular, account for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Meat production is also associated with deforestation, as trees are cut down for livestock. In addition, fire is often used to remove this vegetation, which in turn releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

So we found that increasing plant-based options in the office cafeteria can prevent this big problem.

And it’s generally good for your health.

“The climate crisis is really a health crisis and we can’t separate the two,” explains Dr. Shireen Kassam, who founded a network of plant-based health professionals.

“Moving to a plant-based food system is clearly one of the biggest impacts we can have. [on the environment]But I think people forget that it’s also a personal health issue,” he told her.

Energy

Now we don’t expect you to walk into your boss’s office and demand to see your company’s energy bills.

But the impact of preferring to switch to sustainable energy sources is worth harnessing. It can be as easy as calling your provider (if you’re a small business) and seeing what they have to offer.

Large companies may need to do a little more work.

So how do you do that?

Take Microsoft as an example. More than a decade ago, in 2011, the tech giant had an environmental and sustainability executive named Rob Bernard.

Bernard instructed Microsoft’s risk assessment team to investigate and understand what the transaction looked like with exposure to the energy market. As a result, it is in Microsoft’s interest to pay more attention to tightening regulations on carbon emissions and volatile energy costs.

The company has established a centralized senior energy team tasked with developing comprehensive plans to mitigate risk. 14 experts from fields such as battery technology, renewable energy and the electric power industry participated.

They reported to the top and were empowered to make energy consumption an important pillar of the company’s roadmap. As Bernard told the Harvard Business Review, “Power is an issue with C Suite.”

The CFO and President are currently actively involved in the energy roadmap.

Obviously, Microsoft is one of the richest and most famous corporate powers on the planet. But even small businesses that don’t have the time or money to hire a team of experts can make very small and very obvious changes.

There is no point in reducing energy use or turning off the air conditioner outside of business hours.

Similarly, why not use only energy saving light bulbs in your shop or office and replace the retractable freezer in your supermarket or office kitchen?

The combination of all this may gradually change the company’s dependence on fossil fuels and delay the day of the Earth’s runaway.

The numbers may seem low, but it is also important to remember that the awareness and desire for change exists in millions of companies around the world.

“We have an opportunity to do better,” Sam Jackson said. “Something more sustainable. Small climate solutions like urban green spaces make people happy, people spend more time with their communities, more time outdoors, more time being active. I urge you to do it.”

“The message we have for the company is to enter.