Finbiz by TTB suggests ways for businesses to reduce carbon emissions, aiming for carbon footprint management to support sustainable growth. Starting January 1, 2025, businesses will be required to report their greenhouse gas emissions, specifically Scope 3.
Currently, organizations are increasingly aware of and engaged with the concept of sustainable development under the ESG framework. One key aspect of environmental management is addressing greenhouse gas emissions, which organizations must prioritize by creating a greenhouse gas inventory to calculate their carbon footprint. Finbiz by TTB offers strategies that SMEs can start implementing in an organized manner, divided into three scopes:
Scope 1: Direct greenhouse gas emissions from the organization’s own activities, which often have the most significant impact. This can be further categorized into:
- Stationary combustion emissions: Emissions from burning processes within the organization, such as electricity production, heating, and steam usage. This includes combustion from owned equipment, like generators or LPG used for cooking, measured by the amount of fuel consumed per piece of machinery.
- Mobile combustion emissions: Emissions from burning fuel in vehicles owned by the organization, including cars, trucks, forklifts, and other vehicles for which fuel consumption can be controlled.
- Process emissions: Emissions resulting from chemical reactions in production processes, such as calcination in cement production.
- Leakage and other emissions: Emissions from wastewater treatment or refrigerant leaks.
- Biomass emissions: Direct emissions from land use change, such as converting forests to agricultural areas or using biomass fuels like ethanol or biodiesel.
Businesses can reduce Scope 1 emissions by using energy-efficient machinery, adopting heat recovery and cooling systems, transitioning to automated processes, switching to LED lighting, and replacing fuel-powered vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) to lower pollution and save energy.
Scope 2: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from energy purchased by the organization, including electricity, steam, heating, cooling, and compressed air. Data can be collected from utility bills. There are several options for businesses to reduce Scope 2 emissions, including:
- Using renewable energy through solar panels or wind turbines.
- Improving energy efficiency with energy-saving appliances or enhanced energy management systems.
- Increasing awareness and changing behaviors related to energy savings among employees.
- Monitoring and analyzing energy consumption with reporting and goal-setting.
- Collaborating with energy providers to develop cleaner and more efficient energy options.
Scope 3: Indirect emissions from external organizations within the supply chain, both upstream and downstream, related to the organization or its products. Measuring and managing Scope 3 emissions is more complex because it involves emissions from activities outside the organization’s direct control, categorized into:
- Upstream emissions: Emissions from producing goods or services purchased by the organization, including production and transportation of capital goods, energy-related activities, and waste management.
- Downstream emissions: Emissions from transporting and distributing products from the organization, processing of goods sold, product use by customers, and end-of-life waste management.
Key methods for managing Scope 3 emissions include:
- Long-term planning and assessment to reduce emissions in the supply chain with monitoring and evaluation.
- Transparent data collection and reporting on Scope 3 emissions to stakeholders.
- Collaboration with supply chain partners to improve production processes and use more environmentally friendly materials, including projects to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reporting an organization’s carbon footprint can lead to certification from the Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, confirming the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in each scope. This demonstrates a commitment to environmental and social responsibility and seeks ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It can also facilitate participation in carbon credit markets or offsetting carbon with other organizations.
Ultimately, managing carbon footprints is vital for all organizations as it is a global agenda and supports sustainable business growth throughout the supply chain. It builds trust within the community and provides opportunities for accessing climate change-related financing, including loans for solar rooftop installations.
Source: https://www.springnews.co.th/keep-the-world/sustainable/852942
