The Importance Of Managing A Company’s Carbon Footprint

In the last few years, awareness about issues created by global warming and climate change are gaining ground. From influencing the purchasing decision of customers to attract capital investments from VC firms that respect environmental responsibility, the world is moving towards sustainability.

For any modern business, having a detailed section on carbon emissions in its business plan has become quite normal.

Governments all over the world are looking to incentivize businesses that are environmentally responsible and punish the ones that do not comply!

This means that conversations about carbon footprint, how much it is and how can it be measured are becoming common.

In this resource article, we speak to leading experts at Diginex, an organization helping businesses measure and manage their carbon footprint.

Carbon Footprint: How do we define it?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines carbon footprint as the total amount of carbon dioxide a business releases in its day-to-day activities. For example, if the business has 10 employees and all of them use their personal vehicles to get to work, then the emissions from the same will be calculated as the business’ carbon footprint.

Likewise, if your business is a manufacturing entity, the amount of energy you consume, and the emissions you release will all be taken into account when calculating your carbon footprint. International organizations like the United Nations (UN) have warned about the direct correlation between carbon footprint and threats to our world and our health like global warming and climate change generated by the increased emissions.

The lower the carbon footprint of a business, more responsible and sustainable it is considered to be. The carbon footprint is calculated according to carbon emissions in tonnes. Calculating the carbon footprint is not as accurate as it sounds.

This is why businesses depend on organizations like Diginex. They can help tabulate, collect and analyze data on the carbon footprint and present their analysis to the business. In the following sections, we are going to look at some major advantages of reducing the carbon footprint of your company.

Advantages of Reducing a Businesses’ Carbon Footprint

1. Reduced energy costs

The first thing that businesses will directly benefit from it is a reduced cost with the energy bills. Companies pay much more on energy bills every month compared to homeowners, so any reduction of the emissions due to a change of the energy source used or by replacing the old technology with a newer and cleaner one will greatly reduce the monthly expenses with the energy bills.

Lowering the emissions would mean lesser reliance on fossil fuels and a shift to renewable sources of energy that are both clean and continuous.

This also helps in decreasing the operating budgets of the companies which can make them more profitable. Shifting to sustainable sources would definitely bring down costs.

2. Newer and cleaner sources of power

Engaging with alternative sources of energy that are newer and cleaner compared to fossil fuels can help in the learning and education process of every new or established business. Every time when a new source of power becomes available it attracts the attention of the companies interested in environmental protection.

This usually happens when the power grid uses renewable energy sources combined with conventional energy. There era many energy providers buying energy from solar farms or massive wind parks. All the energy produced by these clean sources of power can help fuelling newer business ideas, models, and production plans for more technology that protects the environment. For a business always looking for new opportunities, this is a great deal.

3. Environmental awareness

A lot of young employees have realized how important it to preserve nature in its original form and how vital is the environment for us here on the planet. Many of them are environmental activists that will never choose to work for a business or a company that pollutes the environment and displays disrespect for nature.

If you are looking to attract the brightest talents available from different fields, you have to start first by reducing your carbon footprint as company and business as soon as possible.

4. Prioritizing emissions

Business owners need to realize that by prioritizing emissions, they have the chance to leave behind a planet that is healthy for the future generations. Being responsible towards the young generation means cutting down emissions, embracing newer and cleaner technologies and leaving behind a planet that is both stable in terms of climate and weather patterns.

You want your kids to benefit from the presence of the natural environment represented by forests teaming with wildlife, clean rivers, clean oceans teeming with sea life, to go camping as we did it or you want them to live on a nightmare planet?

I’m sure that you want the best for your children.

5. Protecting the environment by going green

Lastly, a business that is looking to share a positive image, can use this as a marketing stunt. Everyone loves hearing about businesses that protect the environment by going green. Contributing to the planet’ health can help you improve sales with individuals that share the same vision and passion. In the long run, it can help with everything from branding to revenues.

As you can see from the list above, businesses that can cut down on carbon footprint stand to gain immensely.

The Bottom Line

There is no doubt that the present levels of emissions are contributing to:

• Unnatural forest fires burning down trees and killing wildlife
• Melting of the polar ice caps and rising seawater levels
• Increase in average annual temperatures in different parts of the world
• A massive extinction of species (animals, plants, flowers, insects, marine life, etc.)
• Increasing rates of sickness, illnesses, and diseases due to the massive air pollution produced by power plants burning fossil fuels and vehicles with internal combustion engine


Global warming leads to massive forest fires, image source: unsplash.com

If nations and businesses can live up to the Paris Climate Accord, humanity might still have a chance to overcome climate change. For that to happen, every business and individual needs to take constructive steps to reduce their carbon emissions as much as possible.

If you have any questions the you would like us to answer on the carbon footprint topic, let us know in the comments below. We would be more than happy to assist you in the best possible manner.