In August, EPA's Center for Climate Leadership held a webinar about setting corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. Due to a schedule conflict, we weren't able to attend the live presentation, but we viewed the archived presentation shortly thereafter. We came away with some great nuggets of advice for companies seeking to establish credible and meaningful carbon reduction goals -- and we're sharing the best of them here!
Key Components of a Credible GHG Reduction Strategy:
- Begin with a corporate-wide GHG inventory (base year) of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with Scope 3 emissions included if relevant to the goal. Annual tracking and reporting of progress is a must!
- Build an emissions inventory plan, which institutionalizes progress and ensures high quality data. Make sure you know where the data is coming from, who is responsible for managing it, and where (and why) assumptions are being made.
- Determine a GHG reduction goal, based on a complete and verified inventory. While independent, 3rd party-verification is best, it can be expensive. Consider beginning with an internal auditing and assurance process.
What Makes a Strong Carbon Reduction Goal?
- Absolute reductions are important--don't just rely on efficiency improvements to lower carbon-per-product, carbon-per-revenue, or carbon-per employee trends.
- Consider your company's goals against projected GHG performance in your sector--are you aligned with industry expectations? (And if you are wildly different from your peers, do you have a good reason as to why you are different?)
- Goals should be achievable within 10-12 years--ambitious enough to need a decade to execute, but not so lofty as to lose touch with reality.
- Public commitment from a company's executive leadership adds credibility andLgravitas to the goal!
- Make it specific to your company's operations, and beyond "business as usual".
Additional Considerations When Setting Carbon Reduction Goals:
- Align your goals with what science tells us is necessary for climate-balance. For example, the IPCC recommends reductions of 20-30% by 2020, and 80% by 2050 (from 1990 levels).
- Frequently review your emissions inventory for completeness, accuracy, and relevance. Determining your carbon footprint boundaries and data sources isn't a one-time process. It should evolve as your company evolves.
Want more information? Check out our carbon footprinting and CDP Reporting services, and download our white paper on the impact of employee commuting on your company's carbon footprint!