Decarbonisation: what it is and why it matters
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What is decarbonisation and why is it urgent? Learn practical steps companies can take to support the global move toward net zero emissions.
What is Carbon Management?
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By Stephanie Safdie, US Copywriter, on 20/08/2026
Updated by Agnès Potier-Murphy
Carbon management has moved from a nice-to-have sustainability gesture to a core business function for tackling the impact companies have on the climate. As the financial toll of global warming becomes harder to ignore, regulators, investors, and customers alike now expect businesses to back up their climate pledges with real, measurable data.
The pay-off from doing this well is measurable, too: the International Energy Agency found that energy efficiency gains made in 2019 alone kept roughly 200 MtCO₂ out of the atmosphere globally, evidence that disciplined, well-tracked action genuinely moves the needle.
This article covers what carbon management means in practice, walks through concrete examples of it in action, sets out how to build a strategy that can withstand scrutiny, and offers hands-on tips — spanning carbon accounting to energy efficiency — for cutting your company's carbon footprint.
In this article, we'll explore:
How implementing carbon management can be beneficial for companies
Various technologies used for carbon management & case studies
How carbon management can help companies to maintain sustainability
What is Carbon Management?
Carbon management is the practice of measuring, tracking, and reducing an organisation's greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), effective carbon management, including systematic measurement and monitoring – can help to avoid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across an organisation's value chain and business operations.
As a whole, carbon management helps organisations stay focused on achieving their targets to reduce CO₂ emissions and their use of fossil fuels.
The timeline below will reveal how a company utilising carbon management often achieves an improved baseline of carbon emissions or overall sustainability:
📊
Measure
Start by measuring your current carbon emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3 to establish a baseline.
🧠
Analyze
Identify emissions hotspots and understand the key drivers behind your carbon footprint.
🎯
Strategise
Set reduction goals and design a roadmap with targeted decarbonization initiatives.
⚙️
Implement
Take concrete action by reducing emissions through operational changes, supplier engagement, or renewable energy.
🔁
Track & Improve
Continuously monitor performance, iterate strategies, and improve sustainability outcomes year over year.
What Does a Carbon Management Strategy Look Like?
A carbon management strategy is what makes the five steps above concrete rather than theoretical: a documented plan for measuring emissions, setting reduction targets, and tracking progress as time goes on. Organisations typically capture this in a formal carbon management plan or policy, complete with named owners, a timeline, and a budget for each stage.
UK law reinforces this link between energy and carbon directly: under Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR), large UK companies and LLPs must disclose their energy use and the associated greenhouse gas emissions side by side in a single annual report. That's part of why UK organisations tend to treat energy and carbon management as one joined-up discipline rather than two separate workstreams. The next logical milestone in that plan is usually setting science-based emissions targets, which we'll turn to now.
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Carbon Management
Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) data now shows more than 10,000 companies with validated science-based targets as of early 2026, with upwards of 13,000 having set or committed to targets altogether, a clear signal of how widely structured carbon management systems have been adopted.
Carbon management combines practical, cost-effective approaches to reducing annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in ways that enhance environmental performance and create long-term business value. In fact, a study published explains how seeking to employ effective carbon capture processes will allow for reductions in both energy consumption and operational costs.
Marta Cañada
CTO, Abora Solar, 2021
Improve Finances Under Carbon Management
Carbon management is useful for identifying useful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction strategies for cutting back the annual emissions business report to stakeholders in their CSR reports. McKinsey & Company's own research points to something similar: businesses that are already outperforming on growth and profitability tend to see an extra shareholder-return boost when they also lead on ESG — a "triple outperformer" effect that builds on strong financial performance rather than replacing the need for it.
The flip cards below (move cursor over card to flip) will reveal how carbon management is beneficial for finance in business:
💸 Attract Investors
Demonstrating climate action through carbon tracking can improve ESG scores and appeal to investors.
📈 Unlock Growth
Sustainable practices open access to new markets, clients, and green procurement opportunities.
📊 Risk Reduction
Proactively managing emissions helps reduce exposure to regulatory fines and volatile energy costs.
🏆 Competitive Edge
Companies with transparent carbon strategies stand out in tenders and B2B partnerships.
Various Carbon Management Technologies
There are a wide range of strategies employed in carbon management: energy efficiency, low-carbon fuel substitution, renewable energy certificates, life cycle analysis, and newer technologies such as carbon capture — including direct air capture, one specific method of pulling CO₂ straight from the atmosphere — are all strategies that can help businesses lower their reported CO₂ emissions.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified these approaches as critical components to the overall global incentive to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
However, not all companies can afford carbon capture and storage systems – meaning that some business leaders may need to re-evaluate their industrial processes and use critical thinking to employ effective carbon management strategies.
Case Study: Carbon Management with Unilever
Unilever's own experience shows what this can look like at scale: through process optimisation and supply chain reconfiguration, the company has cut its carbon footprint substantially, including committing to eliminate fossil fuels from its cleaning products by 2030.
Unilever's "Clean Future" program will include sourcing 100% of the carbon derived from fossil fuels in its cleaning and laundry product formulas with renewable or recycled carbon – in addition to their already existing success in reducing plastic usage by 75% and transportation emissions by 83%.
Additionally, Unilever's Climate Transition Action Plan outlines targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030, including:
💡
42% reduction in Scope 3 emissions (energy & industrial)
🌲
30.3% reduction in Scope 3 emissions (forest, land, and agriculture)
📈
100% reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2030 (SBTi-aligned)
Overall, science and research are seeking new ideas for decarbonization technologies are being made all of the time to improve upon sustainable development, but the good news is – emissions reductions can effectively be achieved through the implementation of one or more of these broad categories.
Why is Carbon Management Important?
Carbon management does not just look at the problem of carbon emissions added to the atmosphere each year, it supports the development of technologies and approaches to address the legacy emissions and hard to abate industrial emissions.
A study published in Scientific Data, tracking historical emissions back to 1850, makes clear how much warming is already baked in, which is why effective carbon management has to reckon with the legacy emissions already in the atmosphere, not just what's still being produced.
The Role of Carbon Management in Achieving Sustainability
Within organisations, carbon management goes beyond technology to include policies, training, and techniques that reduce CO2 emissions strategically. With a managerial approach to the problem of CO₂ emissions, organisations can avoid a disorderly and confusing process to alter their systems. A study by the Harvard Business Review explained how companies with comprehensive sustainability strategies often reap the benefits of improved financial performance and risk management.
In other words, technology development can help make a low carbon future a reality. The International Energy Agency's Net Zero by 2050 roadmap outlines how carbon management is an imperative tool to help us achieve global climate objectives.
Luckily, there are multiple pathways of improvement for all organisations regardless of size or sector. In the event of CO₂ emissions reductions, carbon management identifies the pathways of least resistance. Hampshire Cultural Trust offers a good illustration of this in practice: the UK charity, which runs museums and arts venues across Hampshire, worked with Greenly to measure its carbon footprint, arriving at a figure of 2.4 ktCO2e across its operations, data it has since put to use in funding bids and day-to-day sustainability decisions.
Key Benefits of Effective Carbon Management:
Here are a few evidence-based reasons why carbon management can prove indispensable for businesses:
- Regulatory Compliance: Companies that get ahead of carbon reporting requirements — for example by adopting internal carbon pricing, a mechanism increasingly used across industries to prepare for future carbon regulation — are better positioned as more jurisdictions introduce mandatory disclosure and carbon pricing.
- Cost Reduction: McKinsey's Climate Risk and Response research points to substantial cost savings from managing climate-related physical risk proactively, alongside reduced exposure to climate-related disruption.
- Innovation Catalyst: The World Economic Forum has found that companies who move first on climate-adaptation technology gain a competitive edge, not just resilience, turning preparedness into a market advantage.
- Stakeholder Relations: Deloitte's 2024 CxO Sustainability Report found that 90% of C-suite executives (CxOs) believe the world can achieve economic growth while meeting climate goals, and that 85% of companies increased sustainability investment in the past year, up from 75% the year before.
- Risk Mitigation: S&P Global's research on physical climate risk found that only about one-fifth of companies currently disclose a climate adaptation plan — underscoring how much of an edge early movers on carbon and climate-risk management can still gain over their peers.
- Future-Proofing: The Transition Pathway Initiative finds that companies with stronger carbon governance are more likely to align their emissions pathways with the Paris Agreement, positioning them better for a low-carbon economy.
Manage Your Company’s Carbon Emissions
Climate change will fundamentally shape the course of business over the next few decades, so it is important to stay alert regarding the use of natural gas, GHG emissions, energy costs, and climate change overall.
Both transition risks and physical risks from climate change stand to affect a company's financial performance, a distinction originally drawn by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Its recommendations now live on within the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and S2), following the TCFD's disbandment in 2023. Research cited in a ZEW policy brief (Ilhan et al., 2023) shows that institutional investors value and demand climate risk disclosure, highlighting the importance of sustainability information in investment decisions.
Carbon credentials demonstrate an organisation's legitimate approach to a globally acknowledged problem: carbon emissions are too high, and science, resources, research, and new ideas need to be sought out for the sake of the climate and reducing harmful greenhouse gases and methane emissions.
Dr. James Hansen et al.
Columbia University's Earth Institute, 2013
Manage Emissions with the SBTi & GHG Protocol
Every carbon management system begins with gathering data on CO₂ emissions, typically following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol; the framework 97% of S&P 500 companies relied on when disclosing to CDP in 2023, and about as close as the field comes to a universal standard for emissions accounting. Consider this data a starting point to slice down the numbers towards zero and work towards net reduction.
Furthermore, the Science Based Targets initiative emphasises the importance of setting clear and accurate emissions baselines to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
Carbon Measuring and Reporting: How to Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
The problem is not just that businesses have not set net zero targets, the issue is many have not even calculated their baseline of GHG emissions. The CO₂ emissions baseline is the starting point which enables carbon management in the first place.
What is a Carbon Footprint?
"Carbon footprint" has become something of a sustainability buzzword, though not everyone is clear on exactly what it measures.
The term covers total greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and HFCs) generated by an activity or organisation, usually expressed in CO₂-equivalent units (CO₂e) so the warming potential of different gases can be compared on the same scale, a convention set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Footprints can be calculated for individuals, businesses, cities, or entire countries. In the UK, per-capita consumption-based emissions stood at 10 tonnes of CO2e per person in 2023, according to official UK government statistics, still well above the global average of around 4 tonnes. Research from the Global Carbon Project points to significant regional variation behind that gap, shaped by differences in energy mix, transport infrastructure, and consumption patterns.
Even the global average is too high to keep warming under 2°C by 2100: the trajectory needs to fall to roughly 2 tonnes or less per person by 2050. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development's "Vision 2050" sets out several routes businesses can take toward that target, though realising it will take sustained, systemic change across sectors.
How Can You Calculate the Carbon Footprint of Your Company?
Plenty of carbon footprint calculators exist online, offering a quick read on the emissions impact of everyday choices. For a business, though, that's only a starting point — Greenly offers a fuller suite of services built specifically for corporate-level carbon measurement and management.
The most widely used framework for this is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, jointly developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Here's how companies typically work through calculating their carbon footprint, step by step:
🔍
1. Define Organisational Boundaries
Determine which facilities, business units, or assets fall under your footprint calculations.
🏭
2. Identify Emissions Sources
List all activities and processes that emit greenhouse gases (Scopes 1, 2, and 3).
📦
3. Collect Activity Data
Gather energy bills, supplier reports, business travel logs, and procurement data.
📐
4. Choose Emissions Factors
Apply relevant emissions factors to convert activity data into CO2e equivalents.
🧮
5. Calculate Emissions
Multiply activity data by emissions factors to determine your carbon footprint.
📊
6. Categorise by Scope
Organise emissions into Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect energy), and Scope 3 (indirect value chain).
📝
7. Report & Improve
Disclose findings in line with standards (like GHG Protocol) and identify areas for reduction.
With that baseline established, your organisation can start measuring progress against a clear starting point, highlighting where immediate action could cut your CO2 footprint and deliver cost savings, alongside broader efficiency gains.
The baseline also helps organizations develop strategies with a timeline, budget, and KPIs – like any management problem in an organization. Your carbon dashboard is a communication tool for benchmarking performance, highlighting progress, and building trust.
Find out how carbon management can prove beneficial in these areas:
⏳ Timeline Development
Carbon tracking gives organisations the data they need to map out realistic emissions reduction timelines, aligned with operational goals and regulatory deadlines.
💰 Budget Planning
Understanding where emissions are concentrated helps prioritise investments, allocate funds effectively, and avoid costly guesswork.
📄 Reporting Alignment
Carbon data supports mandatory and voluntary reports like the CSRD, CDP, and SECR — making disclosures more consistent and audit-ready.
🎯 KPI Integration
Carbon management turns environmental goals into measurable KPIs, so sustainability becomes part of overall business performance tracking.
Harvard Business School's Michael Porter has written extensively on embedding ESG criteria into business strategy. In research co-published with Mark Kramer, he sets out the concept of "shared value" — the idea that businesses can create long-term value precisely by addressing ESG issues, rather than treating them as a cost of doing business.
Breakdown of Scope Emissions
These assess the total level of CO₂ emissions per year for a range of business activities. A carbon footprint measurement converts the activities of your organisation into a tangible set of facts and figures.
According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), utilising ISO 14064-1 can allow companies access to a more detailed overview for both direct and indirect emissions sources, providing organisations with a complete inventory that serves as the foundation for strategic carbon management.
These activities may fall within different Scopes. The 3 main Scopes worth addressing include:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources(i.e., various business-owned operations)
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from generating purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling(i.e., off-site energy used in operations)
- Scope 3: All other indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain (i.e., upstream supply-chain and downstream consumer value chain emission)
Here's a breakdown comparing and contrasting the different scope emissions:
🏭 Scope 1 Emissions
🔥 Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
🚚 Includes emissions from fuel combustion in company vehicles and facilities
🏢 Typically easiest to measure and directly manage
⚙️ Required for emissions disclosures under most frameworks
💡 Scope 2 Emissions
⚡ Indirect emissions from purchased energy (electricity, heating, cooling, steam)
🏠 Occurs at the utility provider but tied to organisational energy use
📈 Can be reduced through energy efficiency and renewable sourcing
📊 Essential for tracking total corporate carbon footprint
🌍 Scope 3 Emissions
🚢 Indirect emissions from the value chain (upstream & downstream)
📦 Includes business travel, purchased goods, waste, transportation, and use of sold products
🧮 Most complex to calculate, but often largest share of total emissions
🔍 Critical for companies aiming for net-zero or full ESG transparency
Most emissions sit under scope 3, and reporting scrutiny keeps intensifying here, as scope 3 upstream emissions alone can run to as much as 70% of a company's total, with downstream scope 3 often adding further still. Research published in Communications Earth & Environment found that most of the scope 3 emissions counted toward current science-based targets sit in supply-chain tiers that are difficult to trace — a key reason carbon accounting for scope 3 remains so hard to get right. Getting an accurate read on Scope 3 emissions often calls for support from a partner organisation familiar with the latest measurement techniques.
Interestingly, the digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) technologies originally built for carbon-credit programmes are increasingly shaping how companies verify their own emissions data too.
Life Cycle Analysis
Unlike a carbon footprint, which assesses organisational activities for a given period of time, life cycle analysis looks at how CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts occur across the useful life of a product or service.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has established the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards to govern life cycle assessment methodologies, as both of these standards help to provide a structured framework for corporations to follow worldwide.
Take a single product as an example of the emissions generated across its entire existence:
- Extraction & Production: Before a product becomes useful to a customer, it starts out as nothing more than a bunch of raw materials. This requires energy and an assembly line to produce. Next, products should be shipped to a warehouse, which requires gas, fuel and other resources.
- Usage Phase: Once a product is sold, a consumer will use it for some period of time, and if it depends on energy or fuel to function, it keeps generating emissions long after the point of sale. This is a case where carbon management tools alone can't reduce emissions; responsibility shifts partly to the consumer and to decisions made earlier, at the design and manufacturing stage. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Material Economics found that switching to renewable energy can only address 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting climate targets means tackling the remaining 45% too, through circular economy approaches such as eliminating waste and keeping materials in circulation, particularly across cement, plastics, steel, aluminium, and food.
- Disposal: After this, the item will either get resold, recycled, or disposed of. At that point, additional carbon emissions may be produced in either one of these stages. The Environmental Protection Agency has previously explained how a product's end-of-life not only contributes to a product's carbon footprint – but can even be hazardous if the product contains carbon rare metals or hazardous materials.
Therefore, a life cycle analysis produces a flow chart to illustrate how a product is made, transported, used, and eventually disposed. Along each step of the flow chart there are related CO₂ emissions to measure and assess.
The Role of Businesses in Carbon Reduction
Businesses play a central role in cutting the greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere, since a large share of emissions arise during the production and distribution of goods and services, territory individual consumers have little power to change on their own.
Two evidence-based examples illustrate this:
- Business Energy Consumption – The World Resources Institute estimates the energy sector accounts for roughly 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions, underlining how central corporate action is to climate mitigation — business activity sits behind a substantial share of global emissions.
- Product Development – How a product is designed also falls to businesses. Designing products and services that actively encourage lower-emissions behaviour is itself a form of carbon management, cutting inefficiencies before they occur.
Christopher Davis
International Director of Corporate Responsibility and Campaigns, The Body Shop, from the 2018 documentary Closing the Loop
5 Tips For Efficient Carbon Management
1. Certify Your Use of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy sources provide low-carbon opportunities for energy consumption. Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, power plants, and a range of other opportunities. Most of these energy sources produce no CO₂ emissions once they are operational, proving that power generation doesn't need to create excessive carbon emissions.
When a company reports its energy and fuel mix in a carbon footprint assessment, each type of energy is associated with a different level of CO₂ emissions. By sourcing renewable energy, a business can report zero emissions in this category and improve their carbon management.
How a company verifies its renewable energy use depends largely on where it operates. Here's how it works in a couple of key markets:
- REGOs – In the UK, Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin certify that a company's electricity comes from 100% renewable sources. REGOs are issued by Ofgem, the UK's energy regulator, giving businesses a traceable, credible way to back up renewable energy claims.
- RECs – In the United States, the equivalent mechanism is Renewable Energy Credits, which companies can purchase to match their energy use even where locally available renewable power is limited. One REC represents 1 MWh of electricity, tracked through systems like the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS) to prevent double-counting.
Aside from these certificates, companies can also join one of several initiatives to demonstrate their support for expanding renewable energy sources.
- RE100 is an initiative for companies who wish to commit to sourcing 100% of their electricity from renewable sources. Currently, the initiative includes 400+ companies across 150+ markets, together using more than 550 TWh of electricity per year.
- 24/7 Carbon Free Energy - The UN created its 24/7 Carbon Free Energy Compact to encourage governments, investors, and utilities to supply decarbonized energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This initiative supports expanding full access to clean energy sources, and unlike traditional renewable energy purchasing – 24/7 CFE aims to match renewable energy supply with actual consumption on an hourly basis.
The summary cards below will paraphrase the main points of each of these ways to verify the use of renewable energy:
REGOs
In the UK, REGOs prove that electricity comes from 100% renewable sources — traceable, Ofgem-backed certification for businesses.
Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
The US equivalent: companies buy credits equal to 1 MWh of clean energy each, supporting renewable generation even where it isn't locally available.
RE100
A global initiative uniting 400+ companies across 150+ markets, all committed to going 100% renewable.
24/7 Carbon-Free Energy
This UN-backed effort pushes for energy matching in real time—ensuring clean energy is used every hour of every day, not just averaged annually.
2. Cut Back on Travel-Based Emissions
The COVID-19 pandemic caused many workplaces to expand their digital and remote working systems out of necessity. Lockdown meant that people couldn't easily travel for conferences or work in shared office spaces.
As a result, a wide range of digital opportunities became more widely used: Zoom, Skype, Slack, and Clubhouse offered networking opportunities both within organisations and externally.
From a carbon footprint perspective, digital working opportunities significantly cut down on the number of work commutes and air miles spent on travel for work purposes. Even after the world opened back up again, most conferences and events still offer reduced-rate entry for digital attendees.
For business travel that's hard to eliminate entirely, cabin class alone can make a dramatic difference to a flight's footprint. A one-way flight between London and New York, for example, produces around 1.12 tonnes of CO2e per passenger in economy class, rising to roughly 3.24 tonnes in business, based on DEFRA's greenhouse gas conversion factors.
Employee commutes aren’t the only thing to consider, as studies reveal that companies with fleets of vehicles can reduce their CO₂ emissions by switching to electric vehicles, hybrid, or alternative fuel-source vehicles.
It’s important to think beyond road-based vehicles, too. This includes fleets of lawn mowers, utility vehicles, forklifts, and other equipment used in the operations of a business. Remember, off-road equipment can also account for a significant portion of operational emissions for certain industries such as construction and agriculture.
The driving habits of your employees can also make a considerable difference in terms of the overall CO₂ footprint of a company. To address this, training on low-emissions driving styles, ride sharing incentives, and route optimisation can all improve a company’s transportation-based emissions.
Finally, promoting alternatives to internal combustion engine vehicles such as trains, bikes, and metro all offer carbon management techniques worth exploring – as transportation is repeatedly proven to be one of the main sources of emissions contributing to climate change.
3. Optimise Systems For Energy Efficiency
There are literally hundreds of ways businesses can optimise their energy efficiency, and in addition to helping the climate crisis – it can help your company to reduce operational costs and save money. Until you undergo a carbon footprint assessment, these opportunities might not seem obvious.
Retrofits, technology swaps, smart technologies, and operational and behavior changes can all improve energy efficiency metrics. This is why carbon management benefits from innovation and thinking outside the box.
Here are a few ideas to employ energy efficiency:
- LED Lighting lighting is one of the simplest wins available, and still under-used by many businesses. Energy Saving Trust puts the savings at up to 90% less energy than an equivalent incandescent or halogen bulb. Beyond the bulbs themselves, window glazing, motion sensors, smart timers, dimming controls, and better use of natural light can all chip away further at electricity costs.
- Insulation is crucial for optimising your building's airflow and adapting to seasonal changes, helping to utilise of natural resources while reducing energy consumption in unused areas. Consider replacing energy-intensive appliances and equipment with energy-efficient alternatives.
- Smart technologies and thermostats can help you track, monitor, and operate your buildings more efficiently.
4. Take Your Heating and Cooling to the Next Level
Heating and cooling contribute significant amounts of CO2 emissions. One of the most impactful green building strategies you can make is switching from a natural gas heater or boiler heater to an energy efficient heat pump.
That said, switching doesn't come cheap upfront, so it's worth checking what government support is available before committing to the cost. In the UK, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers grants of up to £7,500 — rising to £9,000 for oil or LPG-heated properties — toward the cost of installing a heat pump in England and Wales.
Operational adjustments can go a long way to cut down on the excess. Smart thermostats can adjust the indoor temperature according to the outside temperature automatically and shift temperature during day and nighttime.
To reduce cooling costs, inventive approaches such as:
🌳
Planting Trees
Reduces indoor heat by providing natural shade
🪟
Installing Shading
Blocks direct sunlight and helps keep interiors cool
🌬️
Increasing Airflow
Boosts ventilation and lowers cooling needs
🎨
Reflective Roof Paint
Lowers indoor temps by reflecting sunlight
Data storage centers often use excess cooling to keep the servers from overheating. However, improving the accuracy of the temperature in the center can cut down on unnecessary cooling costs. This could mean raising or lowering the ambient temperature a few degrees, since ASHRAE recommends server-inlet temperatures stay within 18°C to 27°C (64.4°F to 80.6°F).
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and More
Every item in your office has a life cycle which could prematurely send materials to the landfill. Procurement strategies have proven effective in reducing the amount of unnecessary waste created.
This can include purchasing recycled or used goods, or leasing office furniture. Circular business models that lease equipment and offer repair and maintenance services can extend the useful lifespan of items.
All of the small supplies that are quickly used up in an office such as food, drinks, paper, or other supplies can all be optimised for low-waste alternatives. Composting, food donations, and storing files electronically can all minimise waste from these supplies.
Electronics generate significant waste each year, so making sure your company prioritises recycling e-waste and repair services is another meaningful way to cut down. WRAP, the UK's leading authority on waste and resource efficiency, points to substantial energy and material recovery gains from proper e-waste recycling, yet the UK's own electronics recycling rate still trails several other European countries, leaving plenty of room for businesses to lead by example.
Every item sent to landfill adds to your carbon footprint, which is why it's worth prioritising the waste reduction strategies with the greatest carbon impact first, rather than treating all reduction efforts as equal.
FAQs on Carbon Management & Greenly
What is carbon footprint management?
Carbon footprint management is the ongoing process of measuring, reducing, and reporting a company's total greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3. It's essentially another term for carbon management, with a stronger emphasis on the measurement side.
What is carbon and energy management?
Carbon and energy management combines emissions tracking with energy use optimisation, since energy consumption is usually a company's largest source of controllable emissions. Many businesses manage both under a single environmental management system.
What is a carbon management system?
A carbon management system is the software, processes, and policies a company uses to measure, track, and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Platforms like Greenly's Climate Suite are built specifically to support this.
What is a carbon management programme?
A carbon management programme is a company's structured, ongoing initiative to manage emissions — typically covering target-setting, data collection, supplier engagement, and regular progress reporting.
What are examples of carbon management?
Carbon management can include measuring emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3, setting science-based targets, engaging suppliers on Scope 3 emissions, adopting an internal carbon price, switching to renewable energy, and investing in verified carbon offsets or removal projects for emissions that can't yet be eliminated.
What are the benefits of carbon management?
Carbon management helps companies cut costs through energy efficiency, meet regulatory requirements, attract sustainability-focused investors and customers, and reduce exposure to climate-related financial risk.
What About Greenly?
Greenly helps businesses conduct carbon footprint assessments and develop carbon management strategies to draw down emissions.
Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
Don't wait any longer, take the first step towards reducing your carbon footprint by requesting a free and non-binding demo with one of our experts today and finding the solution that best fits your business needs.
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