Sales and Fulfillment
Everything you need to know about corporate carbon footprint
As environmental issues find rising support in economies globally, more and more businesses are conducting sustainability assessments of their corporate activities. The United Nations Environment Programme has pointed out in its latest Emissions Gap Report that ‘the world is still heading for a temperature rise far beyond the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C.’ Thus, to bring about a significant change, corporates along with governments and individuals need to assess their carbon footprint.
What is carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by a person, an organisation, an event or a product. It is measured over 12 months and expressed as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2e. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons. These carbon emissions and climate change are closely linked and are known to accelerate global warming - a phenomenon that has caused disruptions in the natural ecosystems across the globe.
What is a corporate carbon footprint?
The impact of your business on the environment is its corporate carbon footprint. It is a tool to measure how your business contributes to climate change.
The calculation of the corporate carbon footprint of a business is a crucial factor in moving towards a greener business strategy that is sustainable in the long run. Corporate carbon footprint considers carbon emissions under three categories or scopes:
- Scope 1: These are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources such as burning fuel for industrial production, heating, business-owned transportation, and other similar sources.
- Scope 2: These are indirect emissions from the energy purchased and consumed by the business, such as electricity.
- Scope 3: These are indirect emissions occurring in a business’ value chain, such as logistics, purchased goods and services, water use, waste disposal, and business travel in vehicles not owned by the organisation.
Why is it important to know your carbon footprint?
Calculating the corporate carbon footprint is necessary to know where your business stands concerning the global norms for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. While regulatory requirements may be one of the motivating factors for companies to bring environmental impact on their agenda, rising awareness about carbon footprint and climate change is driving consumers to make sustainable choices.
- Transparency:
- Responsibility:
- Mandatory reporting:
Knowing your carbon footprint is essential for the transparency of the environmental impact caused by business activities. It encourages strategic decisions on reducing emissions to reach carbon neutrality
Another reason for knowing your carbon footprint is to garner the trust of stakeholders such as investors, employees, and customers that the business is addressing the issue and accepting responsibility.
More and more governments worldwide have agreed to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities, making reporting of the sustainability efforts mandatory.
How does corporate carbon footprint affect the world?
Carbon emissions from worldwide logistics and distribution activities can substantially impact the environment. According to the UN’s Act Now programme, the transport sector is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels. It contributes to a quarter of all energy-related carbon emissions. Thus, it is vital to decarbonise the transportation industry if the world is to restrict global warming to less than 2°C by 2030.
- Decide on the method to be followed:
- Define organisational and operational boundaries:
- Collate the data:
- Apply emission factors:
- Monitor and verify your emission reductions :
Employ a consistent method to calculate accurate carbon footprint, especially if the business relies on several individuals to gather and evaluate data. The GHG Protocol and ISO 14064 standard are among the more popular methods to arrive at your corporate carbon footprint.
Set clear and transparent organisational boundaries that determine which aspects will be evaluated for carbon foot printing. Operational limits determine which emission sources will be quantified.
Gather relevant data within the defined scope to calculate the corporate carbon footprint accurately. It is also important to identify any gaps and list assumptions made while calculating.
Carry out the final calculation using the activity data collated by standard emission factors. For monitoring purposes, prepare detailed analysis and link the factors to your business KPIs.
Monitor the carbon footprint year on year to know if your efforts to reduce carbon emissions and global warming have been successful. You can also get your corporate carbon footprint verified by a third party to add greater credibility and confidence to your reduction claims.
How can Infosys BPM help?
Infosys BPM has extensive experience in process mapping, domain knowledge, data analytics, and cutting-edge business intelligence, which assists enterprises in:
- Ascertaining baseline data from multiple resources and secondary research
- Taking corrective actions based on insights from data analytics
- Improving operation efficiency to reduce carbon emissions through recommended measures
Infosys BPM provides concurrent support through technological solutions to keep you on top of new challenges in reducing your corporate carbon footprint.
