The path to a zero-carbon future is climate neutral.
SAN FRANCISCO: Brands now have the means to quantify, balance, and cut their carbon emissions thanks to Climate Neutral.
A consumer-facing label was developed by the nonprofit organization for brands that attain carbon neutrality. According to Austin Whitman, CEO, the company wants to make it simpler for customers to choose environmentally friendly products when making judgments about sustainability.
He stated, “Consumers are worried about climate change and are unsure of how to address it.” “Governments have typically reacted to climate change at a far slower and less effective pace than is necessary. Businesses are able to operate far more rapidly.
Since most consumers consider climate change to be a serious issue or crisis, firms can better convey their efforts to lessen their environmental effect by using the Climate Neutral mark. When a business evaluates its carbon emissions, there is an additional longer-term de-risking that occurs, according to Mr. Whitman.
He explained, “It’s about bracing yourself for a future where more of your carbon will be subject to policy.” “Preventing that is one of the best ways to reduce risk in the future. A company’s climate risk will be taken into consideration by shareholders and investors more often as a predictor of future performance.
Assessing and reducing
Brands have to finish three processes in order to become certified as Climate Neutral—measure, mitigate, and reduce their carbon footprint. The most difficult part of the process is usually measuring the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced during the manufacturing and delivery of a product, according to Antoine Ambert, managing director of The Alter Eco Foundation, the nonprofit division of San Francisco-based Alter Eco. In 2019, the company that makes organic chocolate obtained certified as Climate Neutral.
“Starting was the most difficult part because it seemed so complicated at first,” Mr. Ambert stated. “There is an enormous amount of data collection followed by related analysis. But if you just start someplace, the process doesn’t have to be difficult. Using the knowledge at your disposal, choose a manageable initial step.A software tool created by Climate Neutral assists businesses in determining their carbon impact.
According to Mr. Whitman, “you can go in and find your products—beef, pork, wheat, corn—pretty much anything you can imagine.” “All embedded emissions from that product will be reflected in the calculation once you type in how much you purchased.”
The majority of businesses’ emissions are mostly caused by indirect supply chain emissions, which include those from transportation, business travel, raw material extraction, and employee commuting.
Subsequently, the business needs to buy credits to balance off all of the carbon emissions from the previous year. According to Mr. Whitman, offsetting emissions seems difficult but is not that expensive. He calculated the expense to be roughly 0.4% of a business’s yearly income.
“That project could involve planting trees, utilizing renewable energy sources, or constructing a landfill gas digester,” he stated. “These credits can be created in a variety of ways.”
By assisting farmers in making the switch from monoculture to dynamic agroforestry, which entails planting a varied assortment of trees and bushes around the cocoa crop, Alter Eco is able to offset its carbon footprint. Additionally, it collaborates with Pur Project, a group that both plants and preserves trees.
“We planted a tree for each holiday gift set our customers bought from our website during the holidays last year,” Mr. Ambert stated.
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Cutting back on emissions
Companies can become carbon neutral by purchasing enough carbon credits to balance their whole carbon footprint, but Climate Neutral requires its partners to go above and beyond. Creating a plan to cut emissions going ahead is the last stage.
While it is not mandatory, the group advises businesses to measure their reduction objectives. Declaring that “we’ll switch to recycled materials” is OK, but Mr. Whitman suggested that “we’ll switch to 70% recycled aluminum.”
He predicted that in due course, the rule would become more stringent and may even become quantitative, requiring a declaration such as “We’re reducing emissions directly from our value chain by 20% over the next 10 years.” “If we demanded that occur in a numericalthe majority of individuals today lack the necessary skills to find out how to make that happen.
The amazing thing is that, once this process is initiated, businesses begin to become subject matter experts who are aware of their own company’s climate impact. That marks the start of the journey to achieve zero emissions, and that is where we must end up.
He continued, “There are opportunities in the food and beverage industry to invest in carbon positive initiatives and go beyond carbon neutrality.”
According to Mr. Whitman, “people are looking at how certain agricultural practices can be used specifically to capture emissions.” “Food and beverage companies have a rare opportunity to leverage their supply chains as a decarbonization force.”
In order to comprehend how dynamic agroforestry contributes to carbon sequestration, Alter Eco is collaborating with its partner farms.
The most useful aspect of quantifying carbon emissions, according to Mr. Ambert, is that it holds us responsible for advancing our goal of assisting in the development of a supply chain that sequesters carbon rather than emits it.