Carbon neutral

Carbon neutral is used to describe an existing state where an individual or organisation is balancing all unavoidable emissions with carbon credits from projects that avoid or remove emissions from the atmosphere so that their emissions (aka carbon footprint) are ‘neutralised’. A carbon neutral strategy represents the action that can be taken to stop the bath from overflowing in the immediate-term, using current resources. The use of carbon credits is critical as they allow for immediate action to be taken - imagine using buckets to quickly remove large amounts of water from the bath - because significantly reducing the carbon footprint of a person or business usually requires changes that can’t happen overnight (e.g. technological investment and supply chain changes).

You might be wondering what it means to be ‘carbon neutral certified’, as opposed to simply claiming ‘carbon neutrality’. There are many ‘carbon neutral certifications’ currently available to businesses, including the Australian Government’s Climate Active program, however, not all certifications are made equal.

Many carbon neutral certifications do not mandate the inclusion of emissions associated with a company’s supply chain (“upstream”), or the emissions created through the use of a product or service (“downstream”), referred to as Scope 3 emissions, even though these emissions can make up over 80% of a business’s carbon footprint. This is why at trace we don’t use the term certification and rather take a common-sense approach to measurement that is more comprehensive, including those Scope 3 emissions that have a material impact on a company’s footprint wherever possible. ‍

When a business joins Trace to measure and offset their emissions they receive a ‘carbon neutral’ badge to recognise their achievement.

Defining Carbon Positive

Carbon positive (sometimes referred to as carbon negative) takes this to the next level by offsetting more than your carbon footprint. At Trace, being carbon positive means you’ve offset at least 150% of your measured footprint. This shows you’ve removed more carbon from the atmosphere than you are responsible for emitting. 

Net-zero (or net-zero carbon)‍

Net-zero describes the point in time when there is no incremental addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In this scenario, all avoidable emissions have first been reduced and then any residual emissions are removed from the atmosphere using carbon credits. For the private sector, net-zero is best defined by the Science Based Targets initiative, which requires a long-term strategy to be implemented including a plan to decarbonise a business’ value chain emissions by 90 - 95%, and then use carbon offsetting as a mechanism to achieve net-zero emissions. Because of the long-term nature of achieving net-zero, this term is most commonly used when talking about future targets.

A great visual explanation of the journey from carbon neutral (as a current state) towards net-zero (as a future target), is captured by the below graphic created by Nandos UK & Ireland. What sits behind this is a ‘net-zero roadmap’ for the company to move from carbon neutral to net-zero by 2030, outlining the ways they will continuously decarbonise their operations, hitting key reduction milestones over time, until only a small fraction of emissions is remaining to be offset.

Climate positive

You’ve probably heard that we need to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 - but have you thought about what happens after that? Net-zero is certainly not the end of the story - in fact, it’s probably only the beginning. Decades of people living and businesses operating in unsustainable ways have done enormous damage to the earth’s natural balance; we need to not just avoid reaching planetary tipping points but work our way back to avoid ever coming close to them again. This is where the term ‘climate positive’ comes in.

Climate positive refers to activities that go beyond achieving net-zero emissions to actually creating a positive environmental benefit by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and undertaking practices that give back much more to the planet than they take. 

Becoming climate positive requires a business to shift their focus away from just looking at initiatives to reduce their emissions and minimise the negative impacts of their operations on the environment, towards undertaking activities that actively restore the environment. “Regenerative” business is a common term used for these kinds of activities, which might include working with materials sourced from regenerative farming practices, investing in reforestation, and even considering the rights of workers to ensure economic empowerment goals are achieved alongside environmental restoration.

Climate positive being a state that businesses can achieve after achieving net-zero dos not, however, mean that they can’t undertake regenerative practices in the meantime. Ideally, as businesses look at ways to make their operations more sustainable, they consider options that both reduce emissions and have a regenerative impact. Businesses that join trace are already investing in these kinds of activities through tree planting and investing in climate projects that have benefits far beyond reducing or avoiding emissions.

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How to pick the right language for your business

1. Match your resources to your commitment

The sustainability claims you can make, and the language you use, should all be decided upon after you’ve defined your ultimate goals, and those goals should be ambitious but feasible. While we certainly encourage pushing the limits of what you think is possible in the interests of what’s best for the planet, setting impossible goals will put you on a difficult path from day one. There are many ways to become carbon neutral or climate positive; it’s important to select an approach you feel you can sustain, and selecting the right partner for your journey is critical. For example, if you know you won’t have the resources to regularly report and measure your emissions, don’t select a partner or certification protocol that will require weekly or monthly reconciliation. At trace, we work with our customers to review their annual emissions, and support independently verified projects to offset their calculated emissions. We only choose projects that have measurable social and/or ecological benefits, and we plant five trees for every tonne of carbon - making our customers climate positive.

2. Be transparent and honest 

No matter which terminology you use, the key is to be transparent about how you arrived at your choice. This includes clearly stating what you’ve chosen to include, or not include in your scope of measurement. Pointing to the progress you’ve made and accepting there’s always room to improve, rather than trying to appear perfect, is a much more authentic approach. If you feel comfortable with explaining the detail behind your claims, you’re less likely to cross the line into greenwashing territory too. You might like to use the Aussie ‘pub-test’ and ask yourself; “stripping away any marketing or technical jargon, would this seem ‘fair-dinkum’ (i.e. fair and reasonable) to the average person?

3. Work with experts for external verification

It can be nerve-wracking making a public climate commitment, especially if sustainability is not an area you work in every day. Your intentions might be good, but you might lack confidence in your knowledge about carbon management because of its complexity. But not being an expert, or having your own sustainability team to call on should not stop you from making progress towards your climate goals. This is why it’s great to get the help of experts, like the team at trace, to help you measure, manage and offset your carbon footprint as well as let you know what the best language is to use when communicating what you’ve achieved to customers and stakeholders. ‍

4. Clearly articulate your actions to customers & stakeholders

You know your customers best, so you’re in a great position to decide the language that will resonate best with them and how to explain the actions you’re taking. If you’re unsure about your language choices or communication strategy, perhaps consider doing some market research or testing to find out what your customers are expecting from you and what will resonate best.

For a fantastic overview of which targets and terminologies companies around the world are using, and how they’re planning to live up to their commitments, check out the Net Zero Tracker.