Speed Bumps on the Road to Net Zero

I spoke at a great event in my home city of Leicester last week. It was the “Sustainability Rox” event and it was very good. It was also a rare local event.

I was on a couple of panels. One of these was focused on the potential speed bumps on the road to achieving net-zero. The debate was steered towards the way that legislation could slow down the transition. Interesting, I thought, but not really where I wanted to focus. I think legislation is a good thing. It closes gaps and covers externalities that the free-market (or capitalism) fails to deal with. Sure, it can sometimes be clumsy, poorly regulated and too slow, but I think it makes things better and stimulates innovation.

Thinking beyond legislation, however, and I see some potential speed bumps that are worth discussing. Here’s my list:

1??Measurement: Having conducted hundreds of carbon assessments and many scope 1-3 foot prints the key speed bump is a lack of information. Scopes 1 and 2 are pretty straight-forward here but digging deeper into Scope 3 is really challenging and businesses have not needed to have this data before. That said, some businesses lack even the data to complete Scopes 1 and 2 sometimes. Get on top of your data before it gets on top of you. Boring, but the basics are essential.

2? Innovation: We talk about innovation but often just mean another flavour or colour of the thing we already make, or a minor tweak to a process . I want to talk about real innovation and the urgency to move beyond innovating in sequel and innovating by copying your competitor. If we are to teach net-zero (and as the 1.7 degree news last week indicates this is urgent) then sustainability needs to sit at the heart of the innovation process rather than as an after-thought in the marketing process. It’s an easy shift to make but it will change everything. This is what I do, I build innovation around sustainability.

3? Cost: Whilst my motto is “If sustainability is costing you money then you’re doing it wrong” there is an on-going perception that businesses won’t be able to afford net-zero. This is more perception that reality; I’ve saved my clients in excess of ￡160 million through sustainability, annually.

4?Unrealistic internal targets: Everyone wants to hit net-zero early. I’ve seen a rash of businesses declaring 2030 with no idea of how they are going to achieve this. 2030 is six years away. What does the glide-path look like? Then what does it look like without sequestration? I’m not knocking sequestration, as you’ll see, but having a reduction then sequestration approach is essential and currently many business target are built on hope rather than reality. This is twinned with wanting to tick a box, get a press release out on the fact you're "carbon neutral". These things take decades and its not about your story, its about ours.

5??Sequestration: High quality carbon removals guaranteed for 30 years plus are essential and rare. Do your research here and invest in long-term and reliable systems. Consider advanced weathering, soil enhancement, seagrass, as well as tree planting. We regularly review the best of the best and the gap between the top and bottom of the market is huge. Get it wrong and you won’t make net-zero.

6??Supply-chain knowledge and control: We used to make things, now our supply-chain does this for us. We are massively dependent upon the performance of the chain and yet we buy mostly on price. This isn’t just about data (it is a bit), this is about working as a connected set of businesses. We used to talk about supply-chain champions, the “top” organisation in the chain, who commanded the chain. This top-down approach stifles innovation, efficiency and will stifle net-zero. Work with the chain, don’t just tell it what to do.

7??Faux consultants: The rush of creativity, branding, and marketing agencies into the “sustainability space” is truly alarming. We need deep understanding and science now, not rebranding; we need to identify the core impact of the business and address that rather than focus on tangential issues. Sure creativity and brand really matter but, (as I say in my book “You Can’t Make Money From a Dead Planet”) please do let the truth get in the way of a good story, it will ultimately make for a better story and a happier ending.?

8 Skills: There is an urgency to up-skill your whole business in terms of carbon literacy. Imagine how much more effective you'd be with a whole team of sustainability experts rather than just one or two. There are many ways of doing this, we'd be happy to advise.

9 Denial/scepticism: This is a big one. As we have seen in numerous documentaries the oil industry have successfully planted erroneous seeds of doubt. These were lies and deceptions but were enough to give rise to scepticism. This is growing ever-stronger on the back of post-truth, alternative facts, populism, and wider deception in mainstream politics. Fuelled by alt-media that purport to reveal the truth (but in reality are more prone to control) and are hell-bent on division. This is perhaps the biggest speed bump of them all.

Now, I’m an optimist, so I don’t think any of these things are insurmountable, but they will slow us down if we don’t tackle them early. With enhanced carbon reporting on its way, the reputational risk of failing to meet your own targets, and the absolute risk of meeting planetary ones, we need to address these now.

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Don’t tell me you’re funny. Make me laugh.

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