If the UK is to meet its ambitious Net-Zero targets as part of a global push to tackle global warming then businesses are going to have to play their part. At Concept Elevators, we’re serious about doing our bit to tackle climate change. Not only is it better for the planet, but it’s also better for our clients and our business.
Sustainability is all about embedding good practices across the business, and we want our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint to be more than just greenwashing. With that in mind, we wanted an independent organisation to take a thorough look at the performance of our company.
Carbon Footprint provides a thoroughgoing assessment of a company’s carbon footprint, looking at what they’re doing well and where they can improve. We engaged their services to help with our plans.
Our Carbon Footprint
Our carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases our company’s activities produce. This is measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalents known as CO2e. Our company’s total carbon footprint is 462.79 CO2e with vehicle fuel usage accounting for 73.24% of that total.
Carbon Footprint has suggestions to help us reduce our carbon footprint, from providing training to help employees drive more efficiently, shifting to electric vehicles and installing EV charging points at work. They’ve encouraged us to investigate opportunities across our site to reduce energy consumption, through regular monitoring and an energy audit. They’ve also asked us to consider conducting a feasibility assessment to identify any opportunities we might have to install renewable energy generation on-site.
Concept Elevators are keen to engage positively with these suggestions and take practical steps to ensure that we bring down our carbon footprint over the coming years. With that in mind, we’ve set an ambitious target to become a completely carbon neutral business by 2040.
Why does it matter?
The impact of climate change has gathered pace over the past couple of decades, with average temperature records regularly being broken right across the planet. The evidence that human activity is playing a role in these increases in the climate, altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere and generating a build-up of greenhouse gases, is now overwhelming.
The consequences of climate change are already becoming clear, with extreme weather events becoming more regular. Unless significant action is taken as quickly as possible, the detrimental impact will gather pace. This means that the global sea level will continue to rise, local climate conditions will be altered which will, in turn, impact forests, crop yields and water supplies. Large parts of the world could become uninhabitable, leading to refugee crises, famine and potential conflict as resources become scarcer.
How we plan to reduce our carbon footprint
Concept Elevators have set an ambitious target to move our business towards carbon zero by 2040. Over the next 18 years, we’ll be taking practical steps to reduce our emissions year-on-year. To achieve this we’ve adopted four categories that will guide our target setting:
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Passive Reductions
These are the reductions that will happen without any action from our company, such as the electricity grid shifting entirely towards renewable sources of power generation.
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Market-Based Reductions
These are reductions that we can achieve by selecting energy tariffs that have lower emissions. In practice, this will mean ensuring that our energy comes from a renewable source.
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Active Reductions
These are the concrete steps that we can take within the business. These will be technological, behavioural, and operational choices that have a positive impact when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint. Considering the role fuel plays in our overall total we aim to reduce the number of miles driven in company vehicles through efficient routing. We will also look at how we can use innovative technology to reduce our energy consumption.
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External Reductions
As we move toward net-zero emissions, we will look to use carbon compensation/offsetting to make an immediate impact on our overall carbon footprint. This will mean investing in carbon capture schemes and technologies that help to reduce the number of greenhouse gases being released into the environment.
Would you like to learn more?
If you’d like to learn more about what we’re doing at Concept Elevators to reduce our carbon footprint and what makes us a sustainable choice contact us today.
