Climate change is a development issue at its core. It has the potential to worsen poverty and stifle economic growth. The way countries grow and the investments they make to fulfill the food, water and energy needs of a growing population can either drive climate change and increase global dangers, or they can contribute to solutions.

In the sections below, we will consider the ways that companies can employ to mitigate climate risk.

Reducing direct emissions

Starting with a target to decrease carbon emissions from firm operations in the following few years, emission reduction targets should be aligned with climate science. These include emissions from furnaces and vehicles. Companies should also consider emissions from energy, cooling, and heating purchases.

This pillar should also incorporate business travel. The possibility for virtual meetings to become a permanent element of our working lives is one approach to effectively reducing emissions from business travel. Working from home has become increasingly popular as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic. It has demonstrated that we may effectively eliminate the requirement for various types of business travel.

The fastest-growing greenhouse gasses are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). They are chemicals commonly used in refrigeration, foam blowing, air conditioning and other applications. HFCs can have a large impact on climate change since they have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Because of their high emissions rates and short atmospheric lives, attempts to limit HFC emissions shortly will have a major impact on expected temperature increases.

Reducing indirect emissions

All emissions “outside the industry” including upstream activities, such as downstream activities and suppliers such as sold products, are included in value chain emissions. They usually account for the majority of a company’s total carbon footprint.

Enterprises must actively endeavor to reduce value chain emissions. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Procurement rules and supplier code of conduct standards, improvements in product design, and cooperation with suppliers and consumers are all examples.

It should be the target of every organization to lower their carbon footprint. That is the only way we can lower the global footprint. It must be a collective effort. If each company sets targets for their carbon footprint, we shall start noticing great results soon.