How can leaders grow their businesses and help combat climate change at the same time?

Any business leader who hasn’t fathomed out, or isn’t trying to fathom out their climate considerate strategy for the next 5-10 years should probably be asking themselves if they’re the right person to lead their firm.

The world of business is changing more rapidly than ever before in human history and it is up to leaders to force through board agendas that will help fix the future by driving systemic change in both business and consumer behaviours. 

Developing a "climate considerate strategy" for a business isn’t about sacrificing profits for the good of the planet. Quite the opposite in fact. Modern-day commercial success lies with those businesses that manage to drive deep engagement with their end-users and deliver sustainable growth through operating as a force for good. 

But what does being a business that’s a force for good actually entail? If you're a BCorp then you'll already be familiar with the difficulty in achieving the high standards it demands. We're in the process of going through ours right now. The B Impact Assessment is rigorous. It evaluates how your company’s operations and business model impact your workers, community, environment, and customers. From your supply chain and input materials to your charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification proves your business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance.

However, if that's all too daunting and not for your company, then there are still things you can do. After all, it's people, not politicians who hold the real power to change the world. Yes, the law is a brilliant way of bringing about rapid change, but businesses and consumers can move faster than politicians these days and they take a longer-term view.

We, humans, have f**ked the planet through the unintended consequences of our behaviours and it's time to #unfucktheplanet. The good news is that we have the power to fix the future and change it back. But people need to be offered solutions, which is why brands that offer their consumers climate considerate solutions will survive and thrive over those that don’t.

Offering consumers choices that help reduce carbon levels and depollute the planet without compromising their quality of life should ultimately be every brand’s dream. However, the road to success is not an easy one to travel down as it requires significant commitment to changing conventional ways of thinking about how you operate as a business. 

Here are four key areas that you should be focussing on as a leader of any climate considerate business:

• Your climate strategy
• Your end-users 
• Your company culture
• How you measure your impact

You're probably asking, "what is a Climate Considerate Strategy and how do you go about developing one?" In short, it's simply a strategy that re-prioritises a business's measures for success in line with the future of the planet to ensure it's long-term success. It doesn't mean compromising growth plans, margins or profitability.

The biggest headline that's not going away is that we need the planet to remain under 1.5°C. Achieving that requires colossal decision making on a mass scale. Knowing where to start is the key. That is why we’ve adopted the practices outlined in Project Drawdown which prioritises the initiatives that will help achieve this target measured in total gigatonnes of carbon per sector. (If you haven't read it check it out)

Climate considerate strategies make good sense from a humanitarian perspective but also from a financial perspective too. Thanks to things like lower costs of clean and renewable energy, businesses can become more efficient and grow average margins. Behaving more responsibly will attract intelligent, forward-thinking people who really care to come and work for you which will have a halo effect, the benefits of which will get passed on through to your consumers.

Research consistently shows that consumers are increasingly looking to support brands with a purpose who are actively building a better world. Being a force for good is good news that people are interested in hearing. The world needs optimists, positivity and leaders who are prepared to act now not later. A greater sense of purpose and urgency will make your product or service even more relevant to consumers who align with your values and beliefs.

So, what can you start doing today?

Start by measuring your carbon footprint

If you can’t measure it how can you change it? (Or, as our Finance Director, Eyore The Dark Lord of Finance says "you get what you measure!" It’s vital that you start by measuring how much your business is contributing to greenhouse emissions annually. Once you set a benchmark, you can work to reduce your carbon footprint. Add your carbon emissions impact to your monthly management dashboard and use it.

How the hell do you actually do that? Well, it's not all that easy, however, there are various tests that measure your carbon footprint. You can analyse many aspects of your business’s activities. (MyClimate is one for example.) If you're a consumer brand looking for credibility then use a third-party audit, rather than do it yourself.

Run workshops to develop your company climate action plan

Once you measure how much carbon you’re emitting, it’s time to figure out a plan. This means diving deep into the details on the precise activities that produce greenhouse gas emissions and how you can reduce them. Get your entire team involved and harness their collective genius. Gamifying your programme will also help. People understand scoring and are good at playing games so build in ways of helping everyone win!

Here are some key areas of focus to get you started.

Review your supply chain

Supply chain changes will almost certainly have the most significant impact on your business’s carbon footprint. To mitigate risks, start with incremental changes and layer up best practice where you can. Adopt an always in beta mode approach. Test, trial launch and introduce changes incrementally over time if you can. But don’t forget; that speed to market is often a key unfair advantage so swim as fast as you can! It's really tough to change your supply chain but will pay long-term dividends if you get it right.

Your energy supply

Electricity, heating and cooling are big sources of carbon emissions. We changed our supplier and saved thousands which I wished we'd done ages ago. If you're in a category where refrigeration and cooling are key, then find ways to optimise. Better management of refrigeration is one of the biggest opportunities for drawing down carbon. A client of ours came in last week and said they'd saved tens of thousands of pounds patching up some inefficient machinery. That goes straight to the bottom line. Improving your energy efficiency will significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Focus on your entire supply chain as well as your establishment, including office, stores, warehouses etc. 

Transportation and logistics

Logistics should also be a key focus for reducing emissions. Reducing distance and increasing efficiency makes good business sense. Localising distribution where possible will definitely help. Increasing the time you allow in your supply chains in order to ship products via sea versus more carbon-intense methods will also help. These less carbon-intense solutions can often be less expensive too.

You can also encourage your teams to travel in more sustainable ways. Use fewer flights, have more Skype calls, work more effectively by using Slack. If they drive to work, encourage them to drive an electric car or car share. Why not subsidise transport? Government-subsidised bike to work scheme is a great way of getting your footprint down. Consider offering company loans to staff to buy electric vehicles can be very tax-efficient thanks to government grants. And there are also interesting new schemes that you can subscribe to which may also help such as Climeworks.

Food and drink

As someone who has spent 25 years in the food business, I had no idea of the catastrophic impact we were making on the planet. Reducing food waste globally could drawdown 70 gigatonnes of carbon equivalent by 2050. Farming is responsible for around 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions with meat and dairy being responsible for a significant proportion of that. Moving to a plant-based diet could help drawdown over 60 gigatonnes by 2050. Changing your company catering policy to a plant-based menu could significantly improve your impact scores. Are people really going to miss meat that much? And, if you're in food manufacturing, you will find vast efficiencies, grants and incentives which all make good business sense.

Set your emissions reduction targets

Once you’ve mapped out a climate action plan, you should have a better understanding of specific emissions sources and what you can do to reduce them. To make measurable changes it's vital that you set measurable emissions reduction targets with a clear timeline. You should see your emissions reductions in the same way you look at your business plan. Make them part of your company objectives and key results if you use OKRs. To help quantify your emissions reductions, it’s a good idea to set an internal price on carbon. This way you can assess metrics like the opportunity cost of capital, internal rate of return and payback periods. It's important to know the cost and time needed to achieve reductions before starting, so get your FD involved as they're usually pretty good with numbers!

Your end-users (consumers)

Ultimately, it's the vast population of people who are the ones that will make the biggest impact by simply changing their daily habits and behaviours. So, ensure you are crystal clear on who your most loyal and evangelical end users are and build a direct line of communication with as many of them as possible. Capture their details where you can, drive them to opt-in to permission marketing channels so you can use email marketing, social media and any channels you have to communicate directly with them. Don't forget that your products and your packaging are all media channel opportunities. Use them to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing and what the benefits are for them personally. Show them your footprint now and demonstrate your progress in helping fix the future. Infographics are very powerful in communicating your impact.

It may sound obvious, but most businesses spend their time and money promoting short-term messages using one-way broadcast channels such as paid advertising to grow awareness. However, we've learned over the last 25 years that having a direct line to your end-user is without question the most effective way of driving demand and loyalty. And loyalty is key in this new era where consumers are looking at very different criteria to inform the choices they make.

Your company culture 

Even the best strategies in the world won’t work unless you embed them into your company’s culture. Your teams need to live and breathe your vision, mission and values. Seems pretty simple but few businesses really get it right. The behaviours you measure and reward will determine your culture. To do that you need to invest time and energy into communicating with teams and running immersions, inductions and workshops that help them understand your strategy and develop their own ways of working that will help you achieve your vision. Building in a clear understanding of how their decisions will impact carbon is a crucial step in reducing your footprint without damaging profitability and growth. Run workshops with those you trust and specifically design them to help grow awareness of what climate considerate companies do and how they behave.

Measure and monitor your impact

Once you’ve set targets and implemented a plan, it’s essential to monitor and review your progress. Working with a third-party consultancy is imperative to maintaining accountability and measuring your true footprint. It's a bit like having a personal trainer who holds you to account on a regular basis. Monitoring your progress not only validates your hard work but can also offer insights on where you can improve and gain efficiencies. 

Support climate-smart politics

Governments should have the power to change the world and have an impact on carbon emissions. Many businesses avoid politics and aligning themselves with a particular view. However, when it comes to climate change it’s essential that businesses support policies and politicians that are working to reduce emissions. Ignore the laggards and dinosaurs who take the Trump line on business and climate change. Climate policies open new business opportunities that will improve the economy over time. Business leaders like Mark Carney have stood up to business and governments which is a fabulous example to set. Encourage political leaders and local government to support drawdown and climate considerate strategies.

So, there you have a few morsels for thought. Bringing about change and transformation in any business is like changing the wings of a plane mid-flight but it has to be done and, in the end, if you manage to do it, you fly higher, further and faster. In the long-term, we will all look back and think "why the hell didn't we do this years ago?"