As the UK races towards its net zero target of 2050, many businesses are getting to grips with the practicalities of how to reduce their carbon emissions.

With so much information available and a plethora of different approaches, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We know we need to make changes in order to reach net zero – where the amount of greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere is balanced to the amount we remove – but how do we do it?

Introducing carbon accounting into your business or organisation is a good place to begin your net zero journey. Carbon accounting is the measurement, management and reporting of an organisation’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Ultimately, it should be treated in the same way as financial accounting: it keeps track of emissions rather than money.

It is a tool which allows you to understand what your business emits and to identify ways in which you can reduce your carbon footprint. As well as being good for the planet, carbon accounting is also good for business.

By putting sustainability at the heart of your organisation, you are ensuring that you are in the best position to bid for contracts with clients, retain and recruit talent, and improve efficiencies by taking costs out of your business.

The carbon accounting process will naturally identify areas where you can use less and waste less which will have a direct impact on your bottom line.

It will also protect you for a future in which your clients, customers and supply chain insist on carbon accounting procedures as a prerequisite to doing business with you.

Under the UK Government’s Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regulations, large companies are already required to quantify their carbon emissions and have a plan in place to mitigate them. The expectation is that this legislation – along with carbon taxes and other measures – will be widened to ensure businesses of all sizes are tracking, reporting and reducing their carbon footprint.

By investigating how carbon accounting can benefit your business, you are preparing your business for the marketplace of the future and any legislative requirements – which brings with it a competitive advantage.

At EcoGoZero our aim is to make the process of reducing your carbon emissions easy, accessible and affordable.

We work alongside businesses to help them meet their net zero ambitions, finding the right carbon mitigation strategies for them. Our solutions include EV charging stations, off-grid lighting, energy decentralisation and our EcoMetrix carbon accounting software package which is due to launch this spring.

This article was first published in the January 2023 edition of In-Cumbria magazine