Carbon Neutrality 101 - Part Two
Welcome back to the second part of our Carbon Neutrality 101 Guide. Part one of this guide covers the importance of carbon neutrality, why it matters and provides an introduction to carbon footprinting. In this post, we’ll be diving into the world of carbon offsets, mitigation strategies, and how to start the carbon neutrality process. We hope this guide will equip you with the right information and guidance to help you jumpstart your sustainability journey.
Defining an Offset
With the present technology available, it is virtually impossible for an organization to operate at carbon neutrality without some type of external input. Most often, this input takes the form of offsets: investments made in carbon-reducing projects, such as reforestation initiatives or cleaner cookstoves for refugees. Offsets are priced so that for each metric ton of CO2e emitted by an organization, a calculated dollar figure can be invested to directly counteract the emissions.
Take the previous example of your office’s electricity usage: as we know, over the course of 2019, it emitted 118.95 metric tons of CO2e. The offset project Alto Mayo Protected Forest, provided by Cool Effect, costs $8.79 per metric ton of CO2e emitted. If the emissions from electricity are 118.95 metric tons of CO2e, and the offset cost per metric ton is $8.79, you must invest $1,045.57 (118.95 * $8.79) to counteract your CO2e output. By applying this process across your organization’s entire carbon footprint, carbon neutrality can be achieved.
How to Purchase Offsets
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RyeStrategy has reviewed and partnered with multiple carbon offset providers — most reputable organizations with public records of their greenhouse gas data are based in the U.S. and Europe. From the following sources, you can purchase offsets for individuals or companies:
Cool Effect: Founded by Dee and Richard Lawrence in 2015, Cool Effect’s carbon offsetting projects have reduced over 1 million tons of carbon emissions. Cool Effect’s platform supports 15 carbon offsetting projects with a community of 500,000 members, project managers, individual supporters, and environmentally conscious business people. Cool Effect offers specific carbon projects and pooled offset portfolios. Bonneville Environmental Foundation: The Bonneville Environmental Foundation has kept 9.5 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere with the help of its ecologically-committed partners. It has additionally generated over 6 million-Megawatt-hours of clean energy for communities with its initiatives and launched more than 250 renewable power educational programs across 20 states. Those who purchase offsets with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation have contributed to dewatered rivers and the revitalization of ecosystems all across the U.S. and Mexico.
Mitigation Strategies
Unlike offsets, which directly counteract a specific amount of CO2e emissions, mitigation strategies work to reduce your organization’s carbon footprint by altering existing corporate practices. In doing so, greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, can be significantly lowered, slowing the greenhouse effect.
Returning once more to the hypothetical example of your office’s electricity usage, lighting makes up approximately 6% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Energy is used to power all lighting in a building, and when lights are left on unnecessarily, it can result in large utility bills and environmental damage.
Many strategies can mitigate lighting emissions — in this instance, we’ll focus on the installation of motion sensors; devices that turn off lights after a certain amount of inactivity. Motion sensors have been shown to increase energy savings by up to 60% according to an EPA study, and can operate based on the time of day, in addition to any detected movement. With this solution identified, your organization could hypothetically implement the strategy by making a purchase from numerous providers.
Key Sources
Recognizing the different scales at which mitigation strategies can apply, from individual choices all the way up to high level organizational plans, is a crucial step as you lead your organization in the right direction toward climate sustainability. Listed below are mitigation strategies that can be implemented by your employees, teams, and company leadership.
Big picture: This article by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions explores how businesses can address climate change through upper management planning and energy efficiency.
Big Picture: Suzanne DiBianca’s article in Fast Company emphasizes the importance of a focused organizational approach to setting climate and sustainability goals.
Individual Choices: Michelle Wood’s article on Business.com discusses various individual choices that employees can make and how they can be encouraged.
Starting the Neutrality Process
We hope that the previous pages have shed more light on the carbon neutrality process: why it matters and how your organization can have an impact. While the task may seem daunting, with the right resources, it can be affordable, straightforward, and highly beneficial.
RyeStrategy is an environmental consultancy working to aid small to medium sized non-
manufacturing organizations through carbon neutrality services. Our offering includes sustainability research, comprehensive carbon footprinting, mitigation strategies, offset portfolio creation, and advice on leveraging the results of neutrality.
Corporate Carbon Neutrality, Simplified
In today’s sustainability-oriented climate, over 80% of consumers expect businesses to do something about climate change, and nearly 50% are willing to shift their purchasing to more environmentally-friendly companies as a result.
Due to this paradigm shift in stakeholder demands, organizations who pursue carbon neutrality now stand to gain, with the process driving revenues, cutting operational costs, and in numerous locations, providing generous tax benefits, resulting from the offset purchases necessary for neutrality. Clients have reported that our comprehensive carbon neutrality package has not only allowed them to positively impact the environment, but also improve their core brand image, helping them to regularly win deals and retain customers, driving annual returns on investment as high as 368%.
To start your carbon neutrality journey, please click here, or contact us at info@ryestrategy.com
Learn about our affordable carbon footprint solutions for small and medium-sized businesses
Book a free strategy session to discuss your climate goals with a sustainability manager.
About RyeStrategy
Based in Seattle, RyeStrategy is a CDP-accredited, mission-oriented company specialized in carbon accounting, mitigation coaching, and climate disclosure solutions for organizations at any point in their sustainability journey. Learn how RyeStrategy helped Salesforce, Ideascale, and Wazoku achieve their sustainability goals.
From exhaustive carbon footprinting and mitigation coaching, to setting science-based targets and reporting climate data to CDP, SBTi or custom reporting platforms, RyeStrategy acts as a hands-on extension of the team, custom-tailoring services to fulfill climate disclosure requirements easily and accurately.
Meet with a sustainability specialist to learn more about RyeStrategy solutions.
