Carbon Clear News

With the Paris Agreement and the stark realities of climate change now pressing concerns, businesses are under mounting pressure to reduce their carbon footprints and account for their climate-related risks. Purchasing renewable energy is a vital part of business strategies to do just that, as well as to achieve their carbon neutral ambitions.

The good news is, there are renewable energy products that exist for businesses to enable them to purchase renewable energy, but at a time when transparency and accountability are intrinsically linked to reputation, it is vitally important that both suppliers and business customers alike have confidence in the renewable products on the market.

Yesterday the UK Government published its plans for the new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations. It outlines the new mandatory reporting framework which will replace the existing CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme due to end in 2019.

The SECR is designed to streamline and reduce complexity in the carbon and energy reporting landscape as well as broaden the scope for reporting compliance. This will mean almost a tenfold increase in the number of companies required to comply with energy and carbon reporting legislation.

There is a certain amount of cynicism around the term ‘offsetting’. Much of this comes from doubts surrounding whether or not schemes actually deliver the carbon savings promised, concern over double-counting and a view that they are simply a convenient greenwashing mechanism.

However, there is more to offsetting than you might think and the rigorous practices and standards of high quality carbon credits provide more assurance that outcomes are, not only measurable and verified, but also make it a requirement that they provide additional value beyond merely compensating for emissions.

 It has been known for some time that we have a plastics problem. In fact, plastic pollution in the oceans was first reported 50 years ago. Since then the magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially. Sadly, we’ve remained addicted to plastics and been unable to mobilise to solve the problem, with devastating consequences.

This weekend the world lamented the death of a pilot whale who starved having swallowed 80 plastic bags. Amidst the increasingly common stories of tragedy and the media storm that now surrounds the topic of plastics, the atmosphere is beginning to feel different. The playing field is changing.

SSE is set to supply Arriva UK with SSE Green to power it’s UK bus and rail sites. The announcement this week marks a significant commitment by one of Europe’s leading transport providers to decarbonise the sector.

Offered by SSE Business Energy, SSE Green is a 100% renewable electricity and allows business to report zero emissions for their Scope 2 emissions under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards. SSE Green has been independently verified and assured by Carbon Clear, as a CDP Accredited Provider of carbon, energy management and sustainability services.

The UK Government’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) has now entered phase 2. That means the relevant companies are required to be compliant by 5^th December 2019. Before you stop reading in the comfort that you have plenty of time, we want to tell you why we’re advising companies that the time to start the process is now.

The sustainability disclosure landscape is a bit of a maze. Fragmented and at times confusing, it has been a source of frustration to many organisations seeking direction on their sustainability reporting choices. However, there is growing endeavour to create alignment and comparability across the frameworks, and the arrival of the TCFD recommendations last year has strengthened the call for continuity.

This article seeks to show the emerging order in the disorder and why establishing more alignment in disclosures is becoming an increasingly important common goal in the field of sustainability.

In April we hosted a webinar about the TCFD recommendations, specifically how they will impact CDP disclosures this year.

Here we look at some of the questions that were asked during the webinar to give you an insight into how to maximise your disclosure this year and in the future

You’ll find the full webinar broadcast here too.

Palm oil is once again a hot topic in sustainability with the announcement by Iceland that they will stop using Palm Oil in all their own brand food by the end of this year. This has possibly been spurred on by a recent report by Greenpeace entitled, ‘Moment of truth’. The publication claims that firms are unlikely to meet their pledges on eliminating deforestation from palm oil production. Pressure is mounting for organisations to act as the charity takes aim at those failing to display transparency on the matter, with no qualms about naming and shaming.

In 2010 members of the Consumer Goods Forum made a promise to clean up the palm oil supply chains and achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. Less than two years left to come good on this commitment, and with a rush for bio-fuels creating a surge in demand and high deforestation rates persisting, it seems time is running out to meet this goal.

This week is Africa Climate Week. Officials from eight African countries and the UN are convening in Nairobi for a week-long conference, the purpose of which is to support the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement as well as assist delivery on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In support of the endeavours of the conference this week and to highlight the importance of their mission, we are featuring the EcoAct Group’s offsetting project in Embu County, in the foothills of Mount Kenya. This project demonstrates the challenges faced by local communities and how a cheap and efficient solution is driving positive change both socially and environmentally.