Corporations and Climate Change

For businesses, it is important to not continue with the ‘business as normal’ mentality and adopt sustainable business practices within the organisation. Corporate social responsibilities are the practices and policies that are intended to make a positive impact on the world. With the climate crisis looming large, now is the critical time for organisations to adopt sustainable practices and commit to the reduction of their carbon footprint. One easy way for organisations to reduce their carbon footprint is to only source energy from renewable sources.
 
There are countless benefits for businesses to receive their energy from renewable energy sources. These include the fact that renewable energy is often cheaper for your organisation’s bottom line, it can be utilised as a public relations goodwill topic, it creates more jobs in a sustainable business sector and fewer greenhouse gas emissions enter the atmosphere. As a business, if you are able to install your own renewable energy source e.g solar panels, the return on investment is a positive consideration. The upfront cost can be large however the return on investment is substantial and you are supporting the low carbon economy.
 
The Climate Pledge is a call to all businesses to take collective action on the planet’s biggest crisis and to work collectively to build a safer and healthier planet. So far 313 businesses have signed The Climate Pledge. Companies that have signed the pledge agree to three commitments. The first is the regular reporting and measuring of their greenhouse gas emissions. The second is carbon elimination which is through business changes and innovations. The final step is through credible offsets, where any remaining emissions will be carefully offset to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2040. With industry leaders such as Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft and Amazon signing the pledge this is a positive breakthrough for corporate social responsibility.