Net Zero for SMEs: How UK businesses can achieve their sustainable goals
The term ‘net zero’ has become commonplace in discussions around sustainability and climate change. In fact, over the last five years, Google searches for ‘net zero’ have more than tripled, demonstrating the mounting public interest in the subject.
Net zero explained
The term refers to a state where the total amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere equals the emissions that are being removed, creating a net zero total.
With greenhouse gas emissions being a prime cause of global warming, achieving net zero is considered vital to limit the worst effects of climate change. For this reason, the UK government has declared a net-zero emissions target for 2050 and 68% emissions reduction by 2030 against a 1990 baseline.
As major producers of greenhouse gases, businesses are required to act now to limit their impact on the planet. All publicly listed companies must produce a 2050 net-zero strategy, while organisations with over 250 employees are mandated to take part in the UK’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). Regardless of size, emission reductions should be high on the agenda for all organisations that wish to remain relevant in the decades to come.
Read on for how UK SMEs can achieve their net-zero goals.
Emissions reduction
With the UK Climate Change Act requiring businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, limiting energy consumption should be the top priority for SMEs.
Transitioning to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency in business operations and optimising the supply chain are all measures brands can take to minimise their carbon and environmental impact. In fact, carrying out a full energy audit and identifying saving opportunities can cut energy consumption – and emission production – for SMEs by between 10-40%. The SME Climate Hub is a great place to start for actionable insight.
When implemented correctly, an energy management strategy sees emissions drop significantly and with almost immediate effect, while also cutting long-term costs for the organisation. As such, it is one of the most powerful tools available to UK businesses to reach their net-zero goals.
Carbon offsetting
Once a full energy audit has been conducted and emissions reduction efforts actioned, SMEs can then look at carbon offsetting schemes to balance out their residual greenhouse gas emissions. These remaining emissions are known as ‘unabatable emissions’.
Carbon offsetting allows businesses to compensate for residual emissions by investing in initiatives that actively remove or avoid CO2 from entering the atmosphere, such as peatland restoration and tree planting.
The growth of the UK carbon market speaks to the urgency that British businesses place on supporting high integrity impact on their doorstep. Purchasing carbon units, quantifiable measurements that correspond to the reduction of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) emissions entering the planet’s atmosphere, offer cooperations a means to offset their carbon output and demonstrate a commitment to net zero.
Peatland restoration
Investing in peatland restoration is a low-risk, high-return carbon offsetting initiative that SMEs can support. Nature-based sinks of carbon dioxide, healthy peatlands are vital to reaching global net-zero ambitions and tackling the climate emergency. What’s more, restoring peatlands has significant biodiversity benefits, enhancing the surrounding wildlife and habitats, in addition to improving water quality and mitigating flood risks.
Projects that recover damaged peatlands, which actively emit CO2 into the atmosphere, offer businesses the chance to reach their sustainability targets and contribute to the wider environment and climate emergency, in turn building their eco-credentials. Case studies have also shown that by investing in UK based projects, businesses see improvements in staff retention, recruitment and overall wellbeing through the association with high quality, impact led projects.
With its long-term carbon storage, peatland restoration is a high-value, viable nature-based solution for environmentally conscious UK businesses.
How Caledonian Climate can help
Caledonian Climate works alongside landowners to offer businesses high integrity carbon units independently verified through the Peatland Code, a voluntary UK standard for peatland projects that guarantees best practice in all restoration work.
By assuring project integrity through ongoing monitoring and maintenance, sponsoring peatland restoration projects managed by Caledonian Climate offers companies reassurance in the security of carbon offsets for the future, positively contributing to their net-zero targets.
Interested in offsetting your business’ carbon emissions? Get in touch with us to see how Caledonian Climate can help.
For more information on this article, please contact:
Freddie Ingleby
Managing Director
+44 (0) 7840 998 944
freddie@caledonianclimate.com
About Caledonian Climate
Working responsibly with the custodians of Scotland’s beautiful countryside, Caledonian Climate is committed to tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
To achieve this, we talk to forward-thinking businesses who want to fulfil their ambitions for carbon emission reductions through high-quality carbon credits with multiple co-benefits. We then partner them with landholders in the Scottish Highlands, maximising the ecological value and sustainability of their estates.
Building on our significant experience, and guided by a distinguished Advisory Board, Caledonian Climate is delivering the benchmark for long-term restoration of Scotland's degraded peatlands, locking away the carbon for good.
Our work also enhances biodiversity, improves water quality, boosts local economies and creates a compelling story for all of our partners to share.
