Sustainable goals ask and
Baseline measurement for environmental impact
Why setting sustainable goals is important for your organization…
Imagine a ship sailing the seas without a compass. It might sail, but without a clear direction, it will never arrive. The same is true for most organizations' sustainability ambitions. Setting goals acts as the compass that guides organizations to their future destination. It's not just about abstract concepts; it offers practical paths to lasting impact. This brings us to the crucial step of reducing impact after a baseline measurement.
Baseline Measurement: The Beginning of the Sustainability Journey
What is a baseline measurement?
A baseline assessment is a thorough analysis of an organization's current environmental impact. It includes measurements of, for example, CO2 emissions, circularity, and eco-costs. This serves as an organization's starting point and helps compare sustainability efforts along the way to its future strategy. Think of it like pinpointing your current location on a map before embarking on a journey. It's the starting point for understanding where you're starting and where you want to go.
The Purpose of the Baseline Measurement
The baseline measurement serves two purposes: it provides insight into concrete CO2 savings and supports the development of a reduction plan. It reveals your organization's current footprint, and these insights are invaluable in shaping a strategy for a future-proof business that delivers economic, environmental, and social benefits.
Extensive Impact Analysis
The baseline measurement goes beyond just CO2 measurements. It includes a comprehensive impact analysis, considering factors such as health, scarcity, toxicity, and eco-costs. This broader approach is essential for understanding an organization's full environmental impact and for preparing for changing laws and regulations.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking involves comparing your organization's performance against standards and benchmarks, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and industry-specific norms. Benchmarking provides insight into how your organization compares to others in the industry and where it can improve. This makes benchmarking a key tool for ensuring you set the right goals and measure your progress toward your sustainability objectives.
Setting Sustainable Goals: The Next Step
After gaining insight into the current situation with a baseline measurement and extensive impact analysis, goals are set and a sustainability strategy is developed. Read here how the Greenhouse Gas Protocol supports such objectives.
Different Ways of Setting Goals
Goals can be approached in different ways. The “Science Based Target initiative”"is a science-based approach to limiting global temperature rise. This ensures scientifically sound targets aligned with climate objectives.
Goals in line with stakeholder wishes
It's likely that your organization interacts with a number of stakeholders. When setting goals, it can be beneficial to consider the wishes and objectives of your stakeholders. This increases support, both internally and externally, by considering their expectations.
Advantage: Can increase the likelihood of support from stakeholders.
Disadvantage: It may be that the goals of stakeholders do not fit the type of organization, or that they are not ambitious enough.
Absolute goals
Targets can be absolute, or they can be aimed at a specific number. For example, a 100% reduction in scope 1 or scope 2 emissions.
Advantage: Is easy to calculate linearly.
Disadvantage: When an organization grows or shrinks, absolute targets can be very difficult to achieve or give a distorted picture of the actual impact. Absolute targets are also difficult to apply to Scope 3 emissions because they can fluctuate significantly.
Emissions per Added Value
The focus is on reducing emissions relative to economic output. The goal is to reduce emissions per euro of revenue, even while growing, thereby integrating sustainability into core activities.
Advantage: Relatively easy way to monitor annual emissions and divide them by your turnover.
Disadvantage: If prices rise or fall sharply, for example due to inflation, the annual result possibly not entirely representative.
Goals in the sector
The most insightful and targeted way to set goals is to align them with the standards and needs of the industry in which the organization operates. Because each sector presents unique sustainability challenges and opportunities, it's relevant to use the Sectoral Decarbonization Approach. For the transportation sector, for example, it's relevant to base emissions targets on CO2 per transport kilometer.
Advantage: Provides a targeted way of setting goals that is scalable.
Disadvantage: If your business is changing significantly (for example, because you are taking on new activities), the goal may be less appropriate.
Support for setting sustainable goals within your organization
Setting goals is therefore crucial for steering the ship in the right direction. Depending on the specific organization, sector, or situation, it's important to set goals correctly. This will help you make the best strategic choices.
How New Economy helped Check in gaining insight into their environmental impact. The conclusion was that setting targets aligned with the sector-specific context would be most suitable for the rapidly growing organization. The defined reduction target is: 50% reduction per passenger transport km in 2030 based on the Sectoral Decarbonization Approach. Check can achieve this reduction target by focusing on extending the lifespan of certain components, specifically those that have the greatest production impact. It can also be achieved by switching to 100% renewable energy for charging the vehicles (batteries).
Setting goals is an important step after understanding where you stand. Once you've charted the right course, New Economy will also help you implement concrete steps toward your goals. This will allow you to sail into the future with a well-adjusted compass. With the wind in your sails, you can stay on course and continue to grow strategically.
Curious about how your organization can make the biggest impact? Contact Iris now via iris@neweconomy.eco.
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