Reducing the impact of human activities on ecosystems is becoming increasingly urgent, and companies play a critical role in this endeavor.
Why Are Changes Urgent?
Climate change is a primary driver for making drastic transformations in how we operate, as it is one of the most pressing global challenges.
The accelerated rise in global temperatures is largely due to the carbon footprint—greenhouse gas emissions directly or indirectly produced by individuals, organizations, products, and processes.
The consequences of climate change are no longer distant or theoretical; they are evident today.
Within these effects we can observe: Altered weather patterns, rising sea levels, more frequent and severe weather events.
These effects threaten human and animal lives, ecosystems, and global economies. Without immediate action, future challenges will become increasingly difficult to manage.
The Role of Companies in Environmental Management
As we have already pointed out, greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities are making the threat of climate change worse and causing irreversible effects on ecosystems.
Therefore, societies as a whole must assume responsibility for reducing emissions that contribute to the increase in global temperature. This is where companies play a leading role in environmental management, which is a wise decision not only in terms of social and ecological responsibility, but also economic responsibility.
Managing the carbon footprint or the different emissions is one of the measures that companies can take to contribute to reducing emissions.
While the carbon footprint is an indicator that can be measured, it is also useful as an environmental management tool. It allows a company to recognize the actions that contribute to reducing emissions and move towards constant improvement, using resources more efficiently.
In this way, greenhouse gas emissions can be quantified from a corporate perspective. This allows the creation of reports that allow the organization to communicate its performance in the face of climate change with suppliers, customers, investors, government, among others.
After quantifying, it is possible to analyze and manage emissions, according to their characteristics:
- Direct emissions: come from sources that are owned or controlled by the company, such as, for example, consumption of fossil fuels in fixed and/or mobile sources, unintentional leaks from air conditioning equipment, among others.
- Indirect emissions from energy consumption and distribution, associated with the consumption of electricity and/or steam generated.
- Other indirect emissions: emissions that are not owned or controlled by the company, such as transportation of employees, air or land travel for business purposes, transportation of inputs, generation and transportation of waste.
In this way, companies can adopt measures that help reduce and offset their carbon footprint, reducing emissions into the atmosphere.
Based on the initial analysis, the organization's habits can be transformed with a view to energy efficiency. How?
For example, by reducing the consumption of non-renewable fuels and inputs; making improvements in logistics operations and waste management; promoting awareness campaigns; investing in environmental projects, among other actions.
Therefore, environmental management becomes a differentiating aspect between companies, contributing not only in an economic and productive sense, but also to the well-being of people, societies and the environment.