Benefits Of Carbon Footprint Management & Carbon Management

In today’s economic world, sustainability is more than simply a trendy concept. It concerns the immediate and long-term health of our environment, our neighborhoods, and our businesses. 

Do you apply that concern to the way you conduct your business, even if you’re personally concerned about the effects of waste, pollution, and unsustainable practices? Sustainability is worth the investment, according to the facts. How many sustainable business practices aid in the business expansion?

Top 5 benefits of carbon footprint management

1. Keep operating costs down

You’re losing money if you don’t optimize every aspect of your company. By decreasing waste, many ecologically friendly practices—like converting to a paperless workplace or minimizing your energy use—can also help you save money.

For instance, saved $160,000 annually by investing $350,000 in LED lighting and upgrading to replace less efficient fluorescent bulbs in one of its fabric mills. The renovation was able to pay for itself in less than two years with the aid of a $93,000 utility refund. 

Between 2008 and 2015, the Illinois-based hospital system Advocate of Health Care lowered its energy use by 23% per square foot, preventing 203,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. The hospital system saved $23 million as a result. Lower running expenses benefit your bottom line, while a lower carbon footprint benefits the environment.

2. Help customers feel good about your business

Consumers are increasingly asking environmentally conscious companies to provide them with more sustainable goods and services across all industries. According to an estimate by NYU’s Stern School of Business, this demand was responsible for sales of $113.9 billion in 2018, an increase of 29% from 2013.

However, the demand for sustainable products doesn’t end with goods. Experts estimate that 81% of consumers globally strongly agree that businesses should contribute to environmental protection. Therefore, reducing your carbon footprint is essential if you want to gain the trust of your target market, whether they be clients, customers, or partners. You may position your company as a responsible, environmentally friendly choice by promoting success in going green.

Being open with your consumers, a quality that is becoming more and more important for every business is another benefit of being public with your efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. According to a 2018 poll, 86% of consumers think that transparency is more crucial for businesses than it has ever been. Therefore, reducing your carbon footprint might be a smart public relations decision.

3. Get ahead of regulations

Compliance is probably already on your radar because there are 1,810 laws and rules worldwide relating to climate change. Naturally, reducing your carbon footprint can keep you out of trouble with the law, spare you from costly fines, and keep your firm afloat. It’s reasonable to anticipate such laws in the future because climate change is becoming a more important issue in many nations.

Beyond what is presently required by law, sustainability measures will make it simpler to adapt to potentially stronger rules in the future. They also show that you care about the environment, making you appear more like a leader than a follower.

4. Stand out from the competition

When it comes to choosing which things to buy and which businesses to support, consumers have a plethora of options. Differentiating your company from the competition might be challenging. People may choose to do business with you if you demonstrate your commitment to the environment. 88% of consumers believe they would be more loyal to a firm that supported social or environmental causes they care about, and 44% of consumers say they prefer to patronize businesses that reflect their beliefs. In reality, a lot of consumers are prepared to pay more for a sustainable product or service.

Of course, your company isn’t the only one attempting to manage its carbon footprint. You may increase the impact of your joint efforts by attracting vendors and other partners that share your commitment to sustainability by taking proactive measures to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

5. Be a catalyst for innovation

If you continue to operate in the same manner, your business’s ability to innovate may suffer. New sustainability practices have caused hurdles for many firms, which have led to creative solutions.

Nike is a great example of a firm that created materials to reduce its carbon footprint. The unique yarn approach generates 60% less waste than conventional shoe manufacturing techniques. It kept 182 million bottles out of landfills over the course of four years. Consumers also enjoy high-quality footwear, which generated over $1 billion in sales in the first five years.

All industries are capable of innovation. The Dutch flower industry’s drive for more environmentally friendly growing techniques resulted in significant cost savings improved their product and increased their ability to compete on the international market. 

These technological advancements in business would not have occurred without these environmental concerns. Your next major discovery could be the result of your efforts to lessen pollution and take better care of the environment.

Top 5 Benefits of Carbon Management

Here are five of the most significant advantages of carbon management:

1. Lower operating costs

The most obvious advantage of carbon management is the potential financial savings for your company. How? Many of the actions businesses take to cut their carbon emissions also lead to cost savings.

For instance, cutting back on energy use lowers electricity costs and your carbon footprint. According to experts, a 7% reduction in energy use over three years for a 500,000-square-foot office complex can save $120,000 in total costs and improve asset value by over $1M.

2. Meet customer demands

Consumers today have expressed worries about the carbon footprint of the products and services they purchase, and they are willing to put their money where their mouth is. According to the carbon molecular sieve manufacturer, 45% of buyers are willing to stop purchasing their favorite companies if they refuse to commit to assessing the carbon impact of their products.

According to experts, 75% of companies consider consumers to be one of the primary drivers of risks and opportunities associated with carbon emissions from their products and services.

3. Improve brand perception

Effective carbon management can also have an impact on brand perception – how customers think, feel, and react to your firm — and, as a result, how much they’re prepared to pay for your product or service.

According to the Carbon Trust, 56% of consumers stated they would be more loyal to a company if they could tell right away that it was reducing its carbon footprint. Furthermore, scientists discovered that up to 70% of consumers would spend an extra 5% for a green product over a comparable non-green alternative.

4. Respond to investor pressure

Consumers aren’t the only ones concerned about your company’s carbon footprint. Investors are becoming increasingly worried about the carbon footprint of their assets.

According to experts, if an investor owns 1% of a firm, he or she also owns 1% of the company’s carbon emissions, according to the Head of Responsible Investment Business at Institutional Shareholder Services. As a result, an increasing number of investors are shifting capital away from inefficient, carbon-heavy corporations and toward those that are reducing their carbon footprint.

5. Comply with regulations

There is now over 1,260 climate legislation in force around the world, a 20X growth since 1997. To put it another way, every 4-5 years, the number of climate laws doubles. A considerable number of this legislation are especially aimed at lowering carbon emissions (and penalizing companies who fail to do so).

Companies will need to not only adopt an efficient carbon management strategy, but also document and report on their efforts in order to comply with the expanding number of requirements.

Conclusion

You might want to learn more about carbon management now that you’ve seen how a carbon management program might benefit your firm. We recommend reading this article to find out what’s new in the field.