Green is the New Gold: How Carbon Neutrality Boosts Revenue and Saves Money
Carbon neutrality is not only a crucial step towards mitigating the impacts of climate change but also a strategic decision that can bring financial benefits to your business.
As a carbon-neutral certified business, you are offsetting as much carbon emissions as you produce to slow down global warming, improve air quality, and restore ecosystems. It is more important than ever for businesses like yours to adopt carbon neutrality practices, especially given the growing consumer interest in environmental sustainability and the limited time to create meaningful action against climate change.
While the primary motivation for going green should be to reduce your environmental footprint, businesses might not be aware of the financial advantages of deciding to go carbon-neutral. Here are three financial benefits of minimizing your business’s carbon footprint.
Stand Out as an Environmental Changemaker
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues, such as the impact of carbon emissions on the environment. By aligning your brand with environmental values and communicating your commitment to carbon neutrality, you will attract environmentally conscious consumers who share your values. This will increase brand appeal and reputation, attract new customers, expand market share, and ultimately increase revenue.
Consumers want to support businesses that are ethical and make a stance on relevant issues that support the greater good. Globally, 60% of consumers believe sustainability is an important factor when making a purchase, and 87% of Americans value carbon-neutral labeled products as it creates positive brand perceptions and positive feelings when supporting environmentally conscious businesses.
Supporting an environmentally conscious business is especially critical for younger generations such as millennials and Gen Z, who are becoming a larger share of the consumer demographic. This portion of consumers is driven to support green companies, with 75% of millennials willing to change buying habits to support environmentally-friendly products and Gen Z shoppers willing to spend 10% more on sustainable products.
Attract and Engage Stakeholders
Embracing carbon neutrality will also attract employees and investors who also want to make a positive impact on the world. Employees gravitate towards meaningful work, even beyond making money, with more than 9 out of 10 employees willing to trade 23% of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work. Another study found that 75% of millennials, who make up the largest segment of the workforce, want their employers to match their values. If you want loyal and motivated employees, you must show that your business is committed to issues that are important to them.
Investors are also becoming increasingly aware of how their investment decisions can influence global issues. Data collected from the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing found that 75% of respondents are interested in sustainable investing and 71% believe that companies who are leading the way for sustainability are better long-term investments. Environmentally-conscious millennials were twice as likely than other generations to invest in businesses that target social and environmental change.
By becoming carbon-neutral certified, employees and investors can feel good knowing that they are supporting a company that is interested in more than just making profits.
Reduce Energy and Waste Costs
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for reducing your carbon footprint and carbon offsetting and mitigation strategies vary. However, carbon neutrality strategies can generally reduce costs associated with energy and waste. When we consume less or reuse products, less energy is needed to produce and transport products, which reduces waste and increases efficiency.
Learn about how waste impacts emissions and carbon footprints.
How RyeStrategy Can Help
No matter how big or small, adopting sustainable practices is imperative for the longevity of your business and the future of our planet. With carbon contributing to 76% of total greenhouse gas emissions, reducing your overall carbon footprint is one of the most effective ways to minimize global warming. According to a study by Deloitte, about 20% of CFOs aim to achieve carbon neutrality but do not have a specific reduction plan.
At RyeStrategy, we understand the urgency for action and recognize that without first quantifying your carbon emissions, it is impossible to know how to start reducing your footprint. That’s where our expertise comes in.
RyeStrategy is committed to partnering with businesses that are ready to take the first step toward becoming carbon-neutral certified. Through our affordable carbon neutrality consulting services, we can help businesses determine their environmental impact and empower them to work towards making a sustainable difference that will impact people, communities, and the planet.
Our clients have reported that going net zero not only allowed them to positively impact the environment but also improved their core brand image, helping to regularly win deals and keep customers, ultimately driving annual returns on investments as high as 368%. Together, we can create a more sustainable future while driving meaningful growth for your business.
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.
Want to learn more? Check Out Our Comprehensive Guides to Carbon Neutrality, ESG Investing, and our Case Study with Salesforce
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.
