Yes, net zero strategies have annual reporting requirements to measure progress against targets. It is advisable to adopt a quarterly review approach to ensure any issues are addressed within the given timescales. It is critical to report annually so that your business understands how well it is progressing and where the challenges are. It is also critical for your communication with your team and customers to be transparent and accurate - up to date reporting is a useful mechanism for this.

For the most impactful carbon reduction to take place and other benefits of a sustainability approach to be realised, the strategy should be a live document that is embedded into the day-to-day decision making of your business, rather than a standalone file that is only viewed when it’s time to submit the report. 

The key word in sustainability is transparency. We are entering a phase of complex carbon reduction processes as businesses are starting to address their ‘Scope 3’ emissions, which is their supply chain. This is an incredibly challenging task as many of your suppliers’ emissions are outside of your control. Due to this there is an acceptance that if a target is missed, as long as it can be demonstrated that all efforts were made to achieve it; there is a reasonable explanation that is outside of the business’ control; and there is a credible plan to reach it within a new timescale, the strategy will remain valid and it should not be considered greenwashing. Missed targets are opportunities for learning and transparency about the most challenging aspects of reducing your emissions can start critical conversations with other businesses in your sector who are likely to be encountering the same challenge. In this sense, transparency can lead to solutions.

Missing a target and then covering it up could be construed as greenwashing. 

It isn’t missing the target that matters (although this of course is best avoided), it’s how it is dealt with by the business. 

In short, the world is switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This comes with the multiple wins of cheaper and cleaner energy that is generated from the UK, making it more reliable as well as protecting your business from global shocks in supply and oil prices. Once pay back periods have been accounted for, energy bills will reduce, making it a long-term investment as fossil fuel prices will continue to rise. Options to consider range from switching to a renewable supplier to installing solar panels or ground source heat pumps and making buildings more energy efficient. The Green revolution is about making our energy clean and affordable, and the market is moving in the right direction now for that to happen. 

Another approach is the development of local supply chains, which reduce your carbon footprint while protecting your business from other global shocks such as crop failures at the same time as supporting the growth of our local economy. 

Reducing waste and adopting circular economy principles is another way of reducing your carbon footprint by sending less waste to landfill. Again, this has multiple positive impacts because waste reduction and more efficient processes reduce costs and ultimately improve your bottom line. 

Together, these approaches build resilience by protecting you against global shocks as well as bring your business in line with the expectations of the new generation of employees, who consider the climate to be a top priority. Becoming a nature positive business will help you to secure the best talent and is proven to improve staff retention through an increase of wellbeing and loyalty. 

The circular economy replaces the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ linear model of resource use with the 3 ‘R’s principle of ‘Reduce-reuse-recycle’. The exciting part about circular ‘thinking’ is that it can be applied at very large or very small scales (for example, an entire city can operate a circular economy and so can an office site). It can be applied to the manufacturing process from the design stage through to the end of life of a product and can be applied to waste management in an office or on a worksite to reduce waste, reuse items where possible and recycle effectively. Done properly it can produce significant savings and open opportunities for collaboration and innovation. 

Yes, I offer ongoing support to help businesses embed the strategies we co-write. This requires senior leadership buy in from the outset.

A baseline. Before any reductions can be measured, you need to know what your current emissions are. This is called a GHG (Greenhouse Gas) inventory. Once you have a baseline, you can decide how you want to move forward and you will have the emissions data you need to be able to measure the impact of your carbon reductions.

The Carbon Literacy Project ( The Carbon Literacy Project) is on a mission to empower individuals and businesses to reduce their carbon footprint in their personal and working lives by asking them to make a pledge following attendance to a one-day workshop that will commit them to a series of actions. Carbon Literate employees act as ambassadors and can facilitate training for their own teams, and Carbon Literate businesses can become leaders in their sector or community, gaining recognition for the steps they are taking to reduce their carbon footprint.