Advisors for Climate Action & Net Zero Emissions

Driving Forces: Science Based Targets and Net Zero

Long gone are the days when corporates could set low, incremental targets for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and claim sufficient action on climate change. 

Today, any organization with a sizable impact on the climate is expected to rigorously analyze their emissions and align their targets with international climate goals. The nonprofit Science Based Targets initiative provides methodologies to guide this process. Most companies wishing to meet expectations on climate change have set science-based targets that have been reviewed and approved by the initiative, ensuring credibility and proper levels of ambition. 

The deadline to fully decarbonize our global economy is on the horizon. The United Nations has stated that the world must achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Many companies are now setting their own net zero goals by 2050 or sooner. (Science Based Targets now offers a methodology for setting a credible net zero goal.)

The importance of concrete, ambitious, and science-based climate goals is now broadly understood by the business community. These goals ensure that the private sector preserves a stable climate and, in turn, an organized human society in which business can sustainably thrive. 

Assessing Your Organization's Climate Impact

Companies cannot reach a science-based emissions target or net zero emissions without first taking a full and detailed inventory of the ways in which their global operations and value chains impact the climate. 

The greenhouse gas emissions that a corporation is responsible for are divided into three scopes:

• Scope 1: Emissions from assets owned or operated by the company, such as tailpipe emissions from company vehicles or emissions from gas heating systems in company buildings
• Scope 2: Emissions from purchased electricity used by the company
• Scope 3: Emissions created anywhere in the company’s value chain, including supplier emissions and any emissions from use of the company’s products

Scope 2 emissions can be eliminated by investing in energy-efficient technology and switching all electricity used by the company to clean energy, such as solar or wind power. CustomerFirst Renewables has extensive experience guiding large organizations through these (often complex) electricity procurements. 

Scope 1 and 3 emissions can be more complicated to eliminate. They originate from many sources—company vehicles, building heating systems, refrigeration, and even the emissions of suppliers are in play. These sources of emissions vary in how quickly and economically they can be made climate-neutral. For example, replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles may be accomplished on a different timeline with different economics than replacing all gas-powered heating systems in a company's buildings.

Advisory Services for Decarbonization

CustomerFirst Renewables can guide your company through a methodical and intelligent approach to climate action. We can help you account for global greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes and devise a strategy that eliminates those emissions with favorable economics and internal buy-in. 

Our frameworks and guidance have helped clients make sense of what initially appears to be a tangled web of global greenhouse gas emission sources. From there, we have helped clients prioritize and sequence projects based on cost, risk, opportunity, and climate impact. The result is a climate strategy that is designed to generate the fastest and deepest cuts to greenhouse gas emissions possible while supporting business continuity and profitability. 

But a smart strategy is not enough—you need the whole business to change a business. Decarbonization has serious implications for every corporate division, including finance, legal, procurement, public relations, investor relations, marketing, and more. That's why change management is a pillar of all our client engagements. Our team of advisers will invest the time needed to build trusting relationships with all important internal stakeholders so that projects move forward with full support.

If your company has a science-based emissions target or net zero goal and you are unsure how it will deliver, or if your company is hesitant to set these goals because it cannot see a path to decarbonization, we are here to help. Our advisers can illuminate the path and bring the whole company along.

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