“Perhaps we can just carry on as we are, and plant a few extra trees to balance out our emissions?”
Sounds like a plan?
We hear this a lot, both in and out of work. It sounds like a dream of a solution doesn’t it?
If only it were that simple!
We all know that we’re in a Climate Emergency, and we need to significantly reduce our carbon footprint to have a chance of a future worth living. More information here.
So, step one is working out what your footprint is, and then working out how you can reduce it.
Simples!
And there’s the challenge.
There are some great businesses doing amazing work to offset our carbon emissions and slow global temperature rise.
We are proud to partner with Ecologi, an amazing B Corp, dedicated to planting trees and encouraging businesses, like us, to be carbon negative and climate positive!
But offsetting is not the solution to our climate emergency; we know we need to reduce carbon emissions from entering into the atmosphere…and as a very wise man once said…
“We can’t offset our way out of this”- Tim Maiden, Green, Small Business
We are burning carbon much faster and at much greater scale than trees can grow to kindly transfer it back to oxygen! More on that here.
So, while planting trees, protecting forests, and preserving ecosystems is wonderful, offsetting puts us in danger of not taking responsibility for the carbon emissions of our business and personal lives.
As businesses we have great impact, socially, environmentally, and politically, so it’s time for us to use that power for good.
As they say “with great power comes great responsibility”
…A responsibility to ensure a positive impact on people and the environment through the way your business is governed, how it treats employees, supports communities, and interacts with customers.
This is the message you convey to the world, so it’s important to get it right.
We found in B Corp Certification, a really effective way to ensure business grows successfully and sustainably.
B Corps hold the highest standard of social and environmental practice, and are the prime example of business acting as a force for good.
Take Patagonia for example, among many commitments to prioritising people and the environment, they declare they “are in business to save our home planet” … that’s purpose-driven business.
The B Impact Assessment is a great tool to better understand and improve your impact on employees, suppliers, community, and the environment.
We have developed the B Corp Accelerator Programme to guide you through this process, so you could go from B Corp zero to submission in as little as 12 weeks!
This is a rigorous process, which gives the B Corp stamp value… so, there’s no cutting corners, just attentive support by our experienced founder and B Leader, Donna Okell.
If you didn’t get a place on our current cohort, the next Programme will begin July 7th. Contact us on LinkedIn or via email if you fancy a chat!