How businesses can cut carbon and drive sustainable value

With climate action leading the policy agenda in both Ireland and the EU, all businesses must start to think carefully about how they can cut their own carbon consumption, writes David Cashman.

Decarbonisation of all areas of Irish society is at the forefront of public discussion as the economy recovers from the pandemic and energy costs rise.

The Government has laid out ambitious climate action objectives aligned with the EU’s transformative vision in the European Green Deal.

The Climate Action Plan 2021 translated carbon budgets and climate objectives into actions, incentives, and multi-annual carbon budgets kickstarting the roadmap to the 2030 ambition.

The plan puts five-year carbon budgets at the core of the transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and further demonstrates the decarbonisation trajectory businesses can pursue in support of this transition.

Carbon reduction in business

Making your business more green can have benefits beyond the net zero mission. It can also increase resilience and help to reduce costs. To get the most out of the transition here are five key areas to bear in mind:

• New ways of working and transport: Investing early in electric and low-carbon fleets will lead to more sustainable operations. It will also help you to avoid future carbon-related taxation for petrol and diesel vehicles. Hybrid working arrangements can furthermore help businesses to reduce their travel carbon footprint.
• More efficient operations: Understanding your energy consumption and gaining insights into your energy profile can help to support more targeted early investment in energy efficiency. EU and Government support for energy efficiency and retrofit programmes will allow organisations to make worthwhile investments.
• Empowering customers: We can expect customers to become much more active participants in the transition to a greener future. Businesses need to prepare for more sustainability-conscious customers and the need to support a just transition in communities.
• Embedding digital at the core: Harnessing digital technologies can enhance business resilience to possible disruptions in the future. By accelerating digital adoption, businesses can have the opportunity to deliver innovation in core operations.
• Holistic sustainability strategy: Considering all elements of the sustainability strategy holistically will ensure that businesses realise the most significant benefit from their investments. Just targeting compliance will lead to incremental improvement, but proactive companies will achieve greater returns over the longer term.

As businesses adapt to a world that is transitioning to a decarbonised future, there are opportunities to transform operations centred on sustainability. Ultimately, those businesses that adopt a coherent strategy in responding to the challenges of climate action will be positioned to benefit the most.