Why becoming climate literate is a must for all businesses
Businesses are both the cause and cure for climate change: corporations are responsible for a high proportion of emissions, but they’ve also been at the very heart of developing the solutions that will make a difference
Climate Literacy is an understanding of your influence on climate and climate's influence on you and society. It’s the ability to make informed decisions regarding actions that affect climate.
One of the ways to do this is to understand the impact of every facet of your business and how even the smallest actions can impact your overall carbon footprint, or the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the direct use of fossil fuels.
Hot on the heels of COP26, one thing in particular is becoming increasingly clear: Companies must commit to becoming truly sustainable, and fast. For the first time ever, business leaders are beginning to understand we are too far gone to wait for our governments to put in place enough policies and regulations – change needs to happen now.
The climate opportunity
All this change represents is a big opportunity: a chance to streamline, reduce costs and truly innovate. And business leaders who are already tackling climate change head on are thriving, driving innovation and entrepreneurship, introducing new sustainable products, services, even business models.
Every company needs to start thinking seriously about the impact they have on the environment, but many raise concerns about the cost of adopting greener options, be that renewable energy, electric vehicles or zero carbon buildings. However, the majority of changes actually offer immediate cost savings (e.g. through reducing waste) or deliver significant ROI over a period of time (e.g. installing solar panels).
Climate Literacy - a lifeline
Climate Literacy training should be seen as a lifeline – a means of providing businesses with essential climate change learning that catalyses action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Businesses that make the effort to educate their entire workforce so everyone understands the impact they have upon the planet, possess the knowledge and skills to move forward and reduce their carbon footprint. It’s also becoming clear that not acting now will lead to future costs.
Key Drivers for businesses investing in carbon literacy training:
1. Cutting costs and increasing profits
Costs are reduced by: introducing energy management practices, installing smart metres, energy-efficient lighting and heating systems, re-designing products that require fewer inputs (without sacrificing utility), reducing the volume of packaging and switching to local suppliers to reduce shipping distances, switching to recycled materials, and reusing waste products for other purposes or by selling it onto other companies. The list is long!
2. Larger companies expect their suppliers to take action
SMEs especially need to start making changes to avoid missing out on future contracts and growth opportunities. The wider supply chain (also known as scope 3 emissions) is a key focus for larger companies on their journey to net zero, so being able to respond will ensure you remain on their vendor list.
3. Customer expectation
Customers expect companies to make ethical decisions on their behalf, and becoming a truly sustainable business will attract new customers, business partners and talent.
4. Opening new markets
Offering innovative sustainable or “green” products, services or business models will open low carbon business opportunities.
5. Enhancing reputation
Cutting carbon emissions and helping to combat climate change demonstrates corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. More and more companies realise a reduced carbon footprint is the key to a successful future. Climate literacy training has been moved to the forefront of the climate conversation. But climate science and energy are complex topics, with rapidly developing science and technology and the potential for controversy. That’s why Rewrite Education has created a training programme for all employees to understand the fundamentals of climate change and why it’s imperative to get to net zero, so you can build responsibility and responsiveness at every level in your company.
Rewrite is a climate education programme that is focussed on solutions and actions and is based on hope, not fear. To crack this nut, everyone on board needs to understand the problem, so that they can work together to implement the solutions.
We believe that if we change how people feel about the issue of climate change, your company can build responsiveness at every level.