OK, I looked at moving towards corporate sustainability from the 30,000 foot level in my last post, but here I want to comment on those who are already taking on the thorny issues that lie below. And for this perspective, I'd like to thank ClimateBiz, a website steeped in the who and how to of this movement.
The first focuses on establishing the carbon footprint for a company's products. In itself, this can handled in several ways, according to Schuchard's overview: 1) the carbon embodied in the product and produced throughout its life cycle, 2) the carbon reduced through emissions reductions associated with the product's creation, and 3) the carbon mitigated by the company through purchases of offsets designed to assure product-based carbon neutrality.
While complicated in practice, this form of corporate carbon neutrality
is being practiced--by companies like Timberland, with its
Green Index product ratings--and is being studied, and piloted, and standardized in many areas.
The second approach involves establishing, and managing, the carbon footprint of a company's
supply chain--the multiple tiers of sources for materials, supplies, and other inputs. Like the corporate social responsibility
(CSR) commitments many companies extend to their business partners and suppliers, this approach strives for a kind of
systemic carbon neutrality. It is, as Schuchard reveals, extremely challenging and complex...but it is attracting a great amount of attention.
Clearly I don't do this emerging field justice. But I hope you'll take from this the fact that, while being green is far from easy, it is becoming increasingly mainstream. Across business sectors, things are happening, and much more is to come. Invest a little time with resources like ClimateBiz and you see where you can jump in. The time's right. And you'll be in good company.
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