Get started with your Carbon Reduction Plan [3 minute overview]

Step 1: Carbon Footprinting

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In simple terms, a Carbon Reduction Plan is a concise strategy document that help organisations to understand their existing climate impact, how they need to reduce their emissions in the future – and create a plan of how they are going to get there.

Carbon footprinting is the first step in this journey. You can think of carbon footprinting like a financial audit for your organisation, but for carbon emissions instead of pounds and pennies.

Whenever making data-informed decisions, the quality of the initial data and analysis is key. This holds true when developing an actionable Carbon Reduction Plan. Put simply, when it comes to collecting data for your carbon footprint, it’s a case of “rubbish-in, rubbish-out”.

So what data do you need to collect and analyse?

In simple terms, you are required to report on the following 3 scopes of emissions for your organisation:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (e.g. company vehicles).
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity.
• Scope 3: All other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain (e.g. employee travel, waste disposal, procurement and distribution).

Once the correct data has been gathered and analysed correctly, you can start to identify the emissions hotspots within your organisation.

Need some help with your carbon footprinting? Speak with a sustainability expert.

Step 2: Target Setting

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Carbon Reduction Plans typically need to comply with the UK government’s wider Net Zero target of 2050. Like any business goal set 20+ years in the future, it’s difficult to make actionable steps without interim targets. A common Carbon Reduction Plan mistake is not understanding your annual reduction commitments or goals.

That’s why we help our clients build year-by-year targets in accordance with best scientific practice (SBTi). This approach allows you to inform your business decision-making process with achievable yearly goals.

Step 3: Recommended Measures

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A Carbon Reduction Plan should be an actionable document, that outlines a path for your organisation to reach Net Zero. This strategy must be aligned with the wider organisation strategy – ensuring reduction measures are operationally and financially sustainable.

Beyond doing the right thing for the planet and the next generations, it also makes good business sense. Both public and private sectors are setting increasingly stringent sustainability requirements in their procurement processes – for example, PPN 06/21. Soon, having a plan on paper won’t be enough—you’ll need to demonstrate progress.

In simple terms – this means you need to develop a strategy that you can actually implement.

Our approach aligns data analysis with a deep understanding of your business operations and commercial goals. It’s important to build a roadmap to meet your annual reduction targets cost-effectively.

Done right, this step will help you become a climate-ready organisation that clients want to work with, while ensuring sustainability for your operations and wider business success. Learn more about our Carbon Reduction Plan consultancy service.

What’s next?

All sounds a bit overwhelming? You’re not alone.

That’s exactly why we created our streamlined Carbon Reduction Plan service. We’ll take the chore and bore out of the whole process – streamlining the data collection, analysis, target setting and development of business-centric actions that you can actually implement.

> Learn more about our Carbon Reduction Plan service

Is sustainability stuck on your to-do list?