How do you create effective carbon reduction projects?

7 steps are crucial for a decarbonisation journey: 1- Measure Emissions 2- Set Reference Targets 3- Prioritise Abatement Levers(be careful not everything is energy transition) 4- Develop Decarbonisation Pathways 5- Report, Disclose, Communicate 6 - Implement 7 - repeat ( cannot repeat anymore? removals and only after that offsets)

Establishing a solid baseline is the foundation of any intent to measure the result of a reduction project. Make sure you are familiar with the recommendations from the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064 standard as those are widely used, especially with auditors when they need to certify reductions.

Creating effective carbon reduction projects demands both innovative thinking and leveraging existing resources: 1. Partner with nonprofits already making strides in carbon reduction. Their expertise can enhance your project's effectiveness. Examples: Habitat for Humanity, TerGo or Tech To The Rescue. Each may provide invaluable insights or connections. 2. Engage Employees. Projects resonate more when staff connect personally, boosting commitment and outcomes. 3. Define measurable targets for carbon reduction to guide and assess your initiative. 4. Raise awareness internally and externally to amplify impact. 5. Regularly evaluate your project's effectiveness and adapt as necessary.

First, the project goals must be established. For carbon reduction projects, practical goals need to be set based on relevant policies and regulations, industry standards, and capabilities.

Decarbonisation should be a data-driven exercise. The outcome of your CCF calculation should have authority to prioritise your company's main emission reduction projects. It is also important to consider the ease of implementation of each action you've identified, to also enable to plan short and longer term strategies. It can be interesting to score decarbonisation projects based on potential impact ; confidence ; ease of implementation.

The second step is to establish an execution team and budget to ensure sufficient expertise and financial support during the implementation of the project. The third step requires timely monitoring of the project to ensure that the progress is in line with expectations, and timely adjustments to strategies and resource allocation based on progress. The last step of the project closure phase is to review the entire project, review the project results, and formulate long-term strategies to ensure that the results of the project can be sustained.

As more and more people start feeling the effects of climate change, it's more and more likely that carbon emissions will be taxed. Companies that know how to reduce their carbon emissions will have an advantage on that front. Measuring is the first part to mitigate carbon emissions. You have to know where it's coming from so that you can focus your efforts on reducing what matters most. This is a great time to start investing in good carbon emissions tracking, reporting and forecasting if you haven't yet. It's the best way to get started.