We help our clients deliver a sustainable future

Your company’s purpose is bigger than its product or service and is shaped by the desire to positively impact the planet and society.

This is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, group, community or organisation.

Greenhouse gas emissions are broken down into three categories to help us understand where they came from:

• Scope 1 includes the direct emissions from the activities of company owned resources
• Scope 2 includes the indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy from a utility provider
• Scope 3 includes all the indirect emissions not included in Scope 2 that occurs in a company’s value chain

This allows you to invest in local and international environmental projects that balance your carbon footprint, either individual or as a business.

Being carbon neutral relates to the balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon. To therefore achieve carbon neutral status, your company has to create a carbon reduction plan, measuring and reducing operational carbon, the purchase golden standard offsets equivalent to your carbon footprint.

PAS 2060 is the specification by the British Standards Institution that details how to demonstrate carbon neutrality. Out lovely friends at Planet Mark will be able to support you through this process brilliantly.

This means achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it. This balance – or net zero – will happen when the amount of carbon we add to the atmosphere is no more than the amount removed. True Net Zero is therefore about reducing emissions to a minimum and balancing anything we do emit by removing carbon from the atmosphere using carbon sinks or carbon storage technology.

Carbon-neutral means purchasing carbon reduction credits equivalent to emissions released, without the need for emissions reductions to have taken place. Net zero means reducing emissions in line with latest climate science, and balancing remaining residual emissions through carbon removal credits.

What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

These are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The 17 Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals. These are as follows:

• Goal 1: No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• Goal 2: Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

• Goal 3: Good Health & Wellbeing - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• Goal 4: Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all  
• Goal 5: Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Goal 6: Clean Water & Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all  
• Goal 7: Affordable & Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all  

• Goal 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all  
• Goal 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities - Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption & Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

• Goal 13: Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 14: Life Below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15: Life On Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels  
• Goal 17: Partnerships For The Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

In a bid to accelerate sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges, the Secretary General of the United Nations called on all sectors of society in 2019 to mobilise and deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, through a decade of ambitious action. The focus was laid out on three levels:

• Global Action by aiming to lead in terms of policy and providing the resources to do so.
• Local Action which will see policies enacted by organisation such as governments and local authorities.
• People Action which focuses on the ground level choices and decisions the public makes individually.

A fantastic question and with just a little research you will definitely be able to build your understanding as to which Goals most align with your organisation. We would always recommend you join B1G1 as the most interactive way to engage with the SDGs on a daily basis. You also have Prosperah who, through enhanced stakeholder consultation, will identify and set key SDGs to create a Purpose Book for your business.

For this we would always recommend our friends at Planet Mark - their Net Zero Programme will demystify the subject of net zero carbon emissions and will support your business to reach it. No matter what stage in your net zero journey you are on, from committing to a target to creating the action plan needed to get there, they will support you all the way. Their Net Zero Programme is aligned with the SBTi’s Net-Zero Corporate Standard so you can be assured that you are meeting credible and robust targets that are internationally recognised.

Social value is the net social and environmental benefits generated by your business to society through its corporate and community activities.

Measuring your social value will really help to support your environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria – something which is critical to long-term competitive success. The brilliant team at Planet Mark can help you to measure your social value contributions alongside your carbon measurement and help build your full sustainability story.

Absolutely - a recognised sustainability certification provides your businesses with a competitive advantage and help build improve your brand image. It also helps to attract and retain talent as more employees are actively seeking organisations who are ethically responsible. Combined, the benefits of holding a sustainability certification improves your business’ triple bottom line covering profit, people, and the planet.

B1G1 is a global giving business movement that enables organisations to positively impact lives everyday. You will gain access to hundreds of high-impact projects that help you contribute easily to the things you care most about. These projects are closely aligned with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and can help offset carbon emissions or create specific impacts across many causes around the world.

Ecologi is a platform that facilitates the funding of climate projects and tree planting projects around the world, allowing individuals and businesses to contribute to real climate action.

That is absolutely brilliant and shows the world that you are already celebrating the amazing things you do. If you would like us to, we can simply send across the raw data of the impacts we have created together in partnership throughout the year. That way you can embed into your Impact Report in whichever way you should wish to.

We plant 144 trees for every candidate we place. That’s 12 trees every month for the first year of their employment with you though our partnership with Ecologi.

We would absolutely love to. All we would need from you is the link to your Ecologi Forest and we shall gift 144 trees for every placement made.

A wonderful question and we will always be directed by you. If you have a cause close to your heart or if there are specific UN Sustainable Development Goals that particularly resonate with your business, then that will be the basis for which projects we select and support on your behalf.

Of course you can 😊 Either you can view the projects yourself through B1G1 (B1G1-Projects) or we can hop on a video call together for a virtual brew and review the projects together so you can make your decision.

We would absolutely love to and have a community of amazing Ambassadors and Official Partners through our Includability network that can support you. All of the experiences of our own B Corp journey we will gladly share and our B Corp Consultant Laura is there to hold your hand throughout the whole process.

We do this by collecting the annual data based on the fantastic work we have done in partnership together. Your Impact Report will therefore show the positive impacts you have created through B1G1, the UN Sustainable Development Goals that have been supported, the number of trees that have been planted through Ecologi and the number of qualified Mental Health First Aiders placed within your team, all across a twelve month period.

This is a fantastic opportunity to publicly share with your stakeholders and shareholders all the good you are doing for people and planet. Key benefits include strengthening your brand’s appeal by distinguishing your business from your competitors as well as creating a culture of learning, cohesion and pride amongst your team.

Of course you can we would love you to do so. We’ll book in a meeting specifically to talk through any additional information you should wish to add 8 weeks before we send through your finalised Impact Report.