Even though the science of climate change has been around for nearly 200 years – yes, nearly two centuries – climate deniers persist. On thing we can all agree upon is that as time marches on the planet is heating up. In fact, the earth just endured the hottest days literally ever recorded, four days in a row.
The good news is that the biggest driver of change – economics – means that those with the most to lose (at least, financially) are harnessing whatever tools they can find to effect change wherever and however they can. One of the biggest goals is the reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GhG) and to reduce those means quantifying them and taking concrete steps to reduce them.
At least 40 countries require facilities or companies to measure and report their emissions and , about 90% of companies in the S&P 500 now issue some form of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report, almost always including an estimate of the company’s GHG emissions. And organizations are employing the Big Squeeze – to incentivize their supply chains to do the same. For example, Amazon has announced that it will require its suppliers to report on emissions beginning in 2024 – less than a half a year away. And 2024 is the kickoff for the EU Commission’s newly adopted Final Sustainability Reporting Rules.
Understanding emissions and how to report them might be straightforward for some but will prove challenging for others – especially for large organizations that have grown by acquisition without fully integrating internal systems. One reason is that accounting for energy use often starts in the accounts payable department to identify the actual utility bills and the kinds of energy used. If a company has literally thousands of accounts payable departments, as we know some do, getting an accurate picture of both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions will prove difficult and time consuming, and without executive mandate, simply won’t happen.
And then there are Scope 3 emissions. To truly understand emissions attributable to an organization requires looking at the emissions generated on behalf of the organization – its business travel, its outsourced manufacturing, its conferences and events, for example.
Here at illumynt our focus is both on helping our customers make more sustainable choices and on making our own organization more sustainable. Our green team is starting its second year, identifying targets and strategies, embedding sustainability into our very DNA. And we too are tracking our emissions and are happy to share our progress in our first sustainability report coming soon.
Be sure to read my continuing blog series as I discuss all things related to sustainable electronics.
