Getting Down to Business in 2020

Since launching our business offering last year, we have been honored by the overwhelming response — at Cool Effect, we truly believe that each tonne matters, and we’re always left inspired when like-minded businesses join us in our mission to reduce carbon emissions. There’s no doubt that businesses are stepping up to lead the way in the reduction of the harmful greenhouse gases that are contributing to climate change, and we (and the planet) are eternally thankful for those who do.

We also heard some great feedback and from business leaders and organizational decision makers throughout the year, and their questions, concerns, and requests helped inspire our approach to 2020.

Businesses were looking for tools to make the process of calculating their carbon footprint simple, easy to explain to colleagues, and inclusive of price. They sought direction on where to start, guidelines for what to include, and tips on how to reduce their organization’s carbon footprint.

Going even further, organizational decision makers wanted information on where and how to engage their employees as well as programs that could assist in communicating those efforts to your clients and stockholders.

Business leaders told us they were eager to reduce as much carbon as possible but then offset the rest via carbon credits that provide a true carbon benefit and support communities with secondary positive impacts — all while demonstrating transparency in pricing.

One thing that every single business who reached out to us had in common was an unwavering desire to take action and be a part of the solution. It’s that energy that keeps us working every day to bring more options to businesses who want to fight for Earth — and it’s why we’re entering 2020 with more resources than ever available for businesses looking to make an impact on the planet’s future.

Calculating Your Organization’s Impact

Whether you’re a startup or Fortune 500 company, neutralizing your carbon footprint is within your reach — but the first step in the process is figuring out exactly what that footprint is.

To make it easy for organizations to quickly get an understanding of these sometimes intangible-feeling numbers, we applied climate data, emissions measurements, and years of experience in the field of carbon offsets to create two easy to use emissions calculators, each designed to help give organizational leaders a quick and easy way to understand the environmental impact of doing business.

Our Carbon Offset Calculator for Events focuses on one of the corporate world’s largest contributors to climate change — the carbon cost associated with business-related events and their related travel. In 2019, business travelers in the United States took 462 million domestic business trips, and that’s a figure that is forecasted to rise to 499.4 million by 2022.

Factor in the often massive carbon footprint associated with the setup of these corporate events, and it’s easy to see why making those events as carbon neutral as possible will be a priority for organizational decision makers in 2020. And it’s easy to see why we’re committed to giving leaders the tools they need to tackle that priority.

Power use is another major contributor to carbon emissions, which is where our Business Carbon Offset Calculator comes in — it’s a simple tool designed to give a snapshot of how a company’s physical presence can truly have an impact on the planet.

The world’s power plants produce nearly a third of all carbon emissions, and the majority of that electricity goes straight to commercial and residential buildings. Empowering businesses with the knowledge of their footprint is the first step in helping them take action, which means this calculator is the first step in a series of corporate actions that could have a big impact for the planet. It’s not the only action available, but it’s the perfect way to not only begin to understand the scope of the problem, but being to understand the actions needed to help correct it.

We take pride in working with businesses of all sizes interested in sustainable practices. And no matter how big a business may be, we always reinforce the idea that small changes can have a big impact — switching to energy efficient lightbulbs or installing motion sensors onsite, or cutting red meat from team lunches, recycling responsibly, and composting if they can are all great — but getting a better understanding of an organization’s true carbon footprint can help better measure (and better make a convincing business case for) the impact of those actions.

Taking a Deeper Dive Into the World of Carbon Offsets

While the response to these two climate action tools has been incredibly positive so far, we know there’s no one-size fits all solution when it comes to understanding and reducing the carbon footprint of a business. Every organization is unique, and as a result, when it comes to lowering the environmental impact of a company, there are as many different obstacles to overcome and different questions to ask as there are different businesses in existence. And when you bring in the notion of offsets, those questions tend to multiply.

Luckily, our friends over at The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, and High Tide Foundation have put together an incredibly comprehensive guide designed to arm businesses with the information they need to make informed, empowered choices when it comes to carbon offsets.

This guide, which we’re honored to host on our site, is the most comprehensive, current, and thorough educational resource available for businesses and organizations who want to learn more about how carbon offsetting fits into their sustainable plan for the future.

From highlighting the importance of diligent research on quality, the concepts of additionality, over-estimation, social benefits and permanence, this in-depth guide is the best resource out there to help businesses truly understand the role of quality carbon offsets in reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective way. And the best part? It’s absolutely free.

Foresight is 2020, so as we enter a new year, it’s the perfect time to think about the best ways we can involve businesses, corporations, and organizations of all sizes in the fight against climate change going forward.

Together, we can make an impact.