Less CO2, More Profit? Absolutely!

by | Oct 29, 2014

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weber, jorg, foundationfootprintI find it difficult to believe that even in this day and age that companies still need to be provided with incentives to ensure that they are operating in a carbon-friendly manner. If your moral compass isn’t guiding you, then the driver should at least be to ensure your organizations’ business continuity and profitability.

Several organizations that I come across believe that it isn’t in their strategic interest to manage and measure their carbon footprint or believe that they can’t afford it. Neither of these assumptions are correct. So what’s the big fuss and why would you as an organization ever want to invest in any carbon management initiatives? I’m probably slightly biased on this topic due to my role at FoundationFootprint but research is backing me up and has identified that the top four reasons for carbon management are related to cost savings, risk mitigation, managing public and investor perceptions and increasing competitive advantage. Have a read and let me know what you think.

Reason 1: Cost Savings

In the US alone, the number of organizations which have cited reducing costs as a key driver is at 77% which is a 35% increase over the last three years. Another study that was issued by the CDP and WFF said that almost 80% of companies earn more from investments that were directed at reducing carbon emissions than from any other capital expenditures.

If this isn’t a statistic that convinces you then how about the fact that these organizations’ return on investments were close to 200% with an average payback period of 2-3 years. That’s quite something, right?

Reason 2: Risk Mitigation

Many initiatives that an organization undertakes revolve around managing and reducing risk. So it’s not surprising that 73% of organizations in a study that was carried out by Berkley said that identification and mitigation of reputational, regulatory and operational risks was a primary reason for managing their carbon.

As with everything, you can’t manage what you don’t measure and in an increasingly resource constrained world, any of these risks, whether it be compliance, operational or financial can be managed more effectively if you understand your operational performance and its impact.

Reason 3: Public and Investor Perception

Inaction around sustainability has caught out several organizations in the past and has lead to negative public and investor perception bringing significant harm to bottom line and customer trust.

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