You don’t have to be Carbon Neutral to be Carbon Conscious
It’s better to be doing something rather than nothing as long as you don’t make misleading statements to the market in an attempt to make your product something it’s not.
There are growing numbers of Australian companies choosing to offset their emissions voluntarily.
What motivates an organisation to offset its carbon footprint?
The reasons vary but often the aim is the same: to become carbon neutral and be a good corporate citizen. This is achieved by calculating the emissions each company creates – then purchasing offsets from emission reduction projects (such as planting trees) to help counteract them.
Consumers are increasingly including environmental factors in their purchasing decisions and as a result companies are using environmental claims as a way of winning or retaining business. One thing is for sure, consumers and authorities like the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) want to ensure these organisations are being held accountable, that there is substance to their claims.
Recently the ACCC prosecuted Saab, a division of GM Holden for making misleading statements about the green credentials of a range of vehicles. In the advertisements GM Holden indicated it had ensured the carbon emissions from all Saab motor vehicles would be neutral over the vehicles’ life.
www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/843395
Incidents like this create unfairly negative perceptions of businesses that aspire to do the right thing. Presumably the growing number of companies hauled before the ACCC and asked to explain their claims, genuinely believed they were making their product carbon neutral, but miscommunication can have a negative effect on brands.
Unfortunately fear or a complete lack of understanding has limited the number of organisations voluntarily offsetting their business. I believe there are many small, medium and large businesses with an appetite for developing ‘green credentials’. They see inherent value in communicating these messages to their consumers but are reluctant to for fear of falling foul of watchdogs like the ACCC.
Whilst the voluntary carbon market is still in its infancy, it has been widely recognised there needs to be standards introduced to ensure consumers have confidence in it and the integrity of the carbon offset products purchased.
In July 2009 we are likely to see the introduction of the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) and as a result, carbon neutrality claims are going to become dare I say, almost impossible because of the difficulty of proving such a claim (Perhaps a further discussion?)
There are different elements in calculating one’s carbon footprint we need to be aware of:
- The emissions your business directly creates and releases into the atmosphere.
- The emissions generated from energy use – for example, you didn’t create them, but you are consuming them.
- Emissions that are consumed outside the boundaries of the business. E.g. Corporate travel (flights), waste disposal, contractors emissions, etc. These are the most difficult to calculate.
All three elements are being considered for inclusion in the national voluntary standard. This should increase the credibility of claims, however it will inevitably reduce the desire to become carbon neutral because of the likely additional costs and processes involved such as employing expensive third party auditors etc.
Quick question: Does your business, product or service need to be 100% carbon neutral before there is any corporate social responsibility (CSR) value attached to your brand?
Answer: No.
My advice is that you are able to generate the majority of CSR benefits from being carbon conscious rather than carbon neutral. It’s better to be doing something rather than nothing as long as you don’t make misleading statements to the market in an attempt to make your product something it’s not.
My company Carbon Conscious Ltd, which supplies Greenhouse FriendlyTM carbon credits to the mandatory and voluntary markets from our environmental tree plantations, created the name Carbon Conscious with the voluntary market in mind.
We were aware of the issues in making carbon neutral claims and recognise that every business has different requirements. There are likely to be organisations which feel particularly strongly about making their business 100% carbon neutral. There are others who simply wish to demonstrate they are conscious about their carbon emissions by offsetting elements of their overall carbon footprint.
Adding value to your brand through reduction of carbon pollution and/or purchasing offsets shouldn’t create cause for concern. The ACCC, whilst clamping down on those organisations making misleading environmental claims, are very pro green. Like most, they believe any credible offset is likely to have a positive environmental outcome.
Adding green credentials to your business through the purchase of accredited carbon offsets and communicating these messages to the market in a responsible manner, adds value to your business.
Voluntary offsetting has prospered in Europe, even after the introduction of the emission-trading scheme, so there is no reason the same won’t happen here in Australia.
Peter Balsarini is the CEO and Executive Director of Carbon Conscious Ltd. Peter joined the Company in January 2008 as the Chief Operating Officer and was instrumental in the successful ASX listing of the Company in May 2008.
sally.rose
February 19, 2009 at 12:56 am
it’s true
It's true – an honest approach (even if it is a smaller reduction) will, in the long run at least, add far more value to a brand's corporate responsibility profile than inflated claims.