Carbon accounting is a way of calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions your business is responsible for.
Have you ever considered how much extra carbon is in the atmosphere because your business exists?
The carbon emissions your business produces will be created in a number of ways (some seen and some not so obvious)
– The carbon you create to heat or fuel your operations;
– The carbon you use to construct or deliver the product or service you create;
– The carbon created when your product or service is consumed by your customers;
– The carbon created when your suppliers create the products or services that you consume;
There are more formal definitions and this is where the scopes 1-3 fit in, but let’s not get bogged down in terminology. What we are trying to calculate is the emissions of your business and the atmosphere doesn’t care which scope it came from.
Why don’t most small businesses calculate their carbon footprint currently?
The simple answer… it’s put in the too-hard bucket.
Most small businesses would agree that they would like to know what their carbon footprint is but
- They don’t know where to start;
- They find the terminology confusing;
- It takes a lot of time to gather the data;
- They simply don’t have the time;
- Often the data is old;
- Can’t afford the specialist at the moment;
This is where tools like Ecologi Zero fill the gap beautifully and they take the pain out of carbon accounting.
What is Ecologi Zero?
Ecologi Zero was created by Ecologi; Ecologi is an award-winning B Corporation which engages with businesses and individuals to support the planting of trees around the world in order to support their transition to Net Zero.
The Ecologi Zero app helps businesses easily calculate their carbon footprint for free and the aim is to support these businesses on their journey to Net Zero.
The software has been created to link directly to your Xero data and the setup is very simple & quick.
The Ecologi Zero team are planning to grow the functionality of the software over the next 12 months and to help small business owners build their own reduction plans.
Are the carbon calculations reliable?
The project is a collaboration with world-leading carbon Expert Prof. Mike Berners Lee and is built on industry standards (based on Greenhouse Gas protocol and SBTi Net-Zero-Standards).
As the calculations rely on your Xero data it does mean that you will get better results with accurate & up to date data. So it might be you need to work with your accountant to tidy your data or classify suppliers in the software.
https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/ecologi-zero-joins-the-xero-app-store
Carbon footprinting is still in the early days of its evolution; therefore, you will get different results using different tools, and there is no one perfect method.
Ecologi Zero uses spend data so it is likely to be different to a more involved activity-based carbon footprint.
My view is that carbon footprinting as an exercise is about getting a benchmark and drawing a line in the sand. And then actively working to make improvements according to the calculation. The Ecologi Zero app is good enough for most small businesses and it’s a great starting point.
Sounds good how do I get started with Ecologi Zero?
Getting Setup
- First, you need to sign up for the Ecologi Zero app.
- Then you will be asked to connect up your Xero data.
Calculate
- The software will calculate your supply chains emissions based on your Xero data;
- You will need to add your operational data i.e. business miles of company cars and energy consumption data.
- The software will ask you to double-check the classification of some of your suppliers. As it uses industry averages to predict the likely emissions of that supplier.
Insights
- The software shows your emission hotspots i.e. where you are producing the most emissions
- The app will help to guide you with explanations of terminology and make suggestions for how you might make carbon reductions
- You also have the option to consider if you want to make purchases at the impact shop or create a monthly subscription with Ecologi to offset the teams estimated emissions (Reduction should be the first option always). You can of course use other providers to do this.
I have my number – now what?
Carbon accounting isn’t a one-off job and it needs to be monitored at least annually.
I suggest you set carbon accounting targets each year and build them into your quarterly board reporting. Discuss with your team the results each quarter.
Work with your team and find out what are the easy swaps that can start to reduce your carbon footprint in your business.
The best practice would be for the whole team to take part in a carbon literacy program and you then use that training to create your first plan for how the business will get to Net Zero and by what date.
Give real thought about what are the defaults in your business and how can you make it easier for carbon-reducing decisions to be made. This could be reviewing your default pension plan and switching to a green default or offering the green option to customers rather than asking would you like the green option or making vegetarian food the default option rather than meat.
Share your progress
The next step is to start talking and sharing your progress. You might do this by creating a sustainability policy and/or impact report on your website.
Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about how we have been using Ecologi Zero both internally and with clients.
Please note: This is not meant to constitute professional advice. It is generic guidance only –please seek specific advice for your circumstances