GOING FOR GOLD
by Daniel Musenga-Grant & Kathryn Charman
Since 1896 the Olympic Games have showcased the best of human ability. In their drive for gold, the athletes push themselves to new heights of endurance, speed, skill and power.
Paris 2024 was no different giving us spectacular moments like Sifan Hassan’s astounding sprint finish in the marathon, or Simone Biles showing exactly why she is considered the greatest of all time in the gymnasium.
But there was another story at the Paris Olympics, quietly operating in the background. Something that is no less important in the drive for humanity to perform at their best.
The organisers set out to establish a new model for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (starting this week, 28th of August), ensuring the most responsible, sustainable and inclusive games in history.
Back in 1896, at the first modern Olympic Games, there was only 295 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.
In 2023, this reached 421.08 ppm with the trajectory still rising rapidly and emissions continuing to increase.
With extreme weather events already becoming common across the globe, and July 21st being the hottest day in recorded history, the need to cut emissions has never been more pressing.
Greenly Carbon Accounting
Last year, HVS achieved the Silver Medal in their first ever carbon accounting report. This put us in the top 10% of businesses in terms of tackling contribution to atmospheric CO2 and climate change.
Though this was a great achievement, there is always more to do, and in this Olympic year, HVS was determined to go for Gold.
And we did it! This year HVS has measured more emissions, committed to more action, educated more employees, and did more to protect the environment than ever before, putting us amongst the top 5% of companies.
What Is Carbon Accounting?
Carbon accounting keeps us accountable! You cannot control what you cannot measure, so the first step in improving our company’s emissions was to measure our impact. This provided a baseline from which to launch positive actions and mitigate the environmental risks of HVS’ operations.
Businesses have three types of emissions, called scopes.
Scope One are direct emissions that come from the company’s activities.
Scope Two are indirect emissions that are associated with the use of electricity, heat or steam.
Scope Three are also indirect emissions, but those that are emitted upstream or downstream from activities in the business’ value chain. This can include the production of raw materials, or customers using your products.
On average, Scope Three makes up 90% of an organisation’s emissions.
For that reason, HVS uses carbon accounting to:
· Measure all three scopes of emissions.
· Report results in compliance with ISO standards.
· Analyse emissions and benchmark against other companies in the same or similar industries.
· Utilise the results to create quantifiable actions plans to reduce emissions and ensure continual improvement across the business.
“As the Head of Supply Chain and Sustainability at HVS, I am a firm believer that carbon accounting enables us to form a solid foundation from which to build a relevant and constructive decarbonisation strategy.
At HVS, seeing the year-on-year data that is now available to us, I am able to identify opportunities and risks for our strategies moving forwards.”
Kathryn Charman and Daniel Musenga-Grant first meeting in person, all their work was done through online meetings.
The Pitfalls Of Carbon Offsetting
The Paris Olympics have committed €15million to ensuring the 2024 Games are carbon neutral by offsetting any residual carbon emissions from the event.
While this is commendable in itself, there are several pitfalls that can catch out companies attempting to offset emissions, including HVS.
Offsetting cannot be seen as a ‘silver bullet’ and cannot be pursued at the expense of activities that reduce emissions. At HVS we strive to reduce environmental impacts as much as possible, and only consider offsetting for the residual emissions.
Some of the other common pitfalls of offsetting are:
Overcounting – not accurately measuring the amount of carbon offset.
No additionality – claiming the benefits of carbon that would have been captured or prevented anyway.
Durability – investing in offsetting projects which do not fulfil their commitments. E.g. planting saplings, but not nurturing them into a carbon sequestering mature forest.
Externalities – supporting ‘offsetting’ projects that do not contribute to the just transition to net-zero. E.g. human rights abuses or displacement of indigenous people.
Accountability – Not all offsetting schemes are created equal. Some meet rigorous standards such as the Carbon Offsetting Gold Standard, others have been revealed as money grabbing schemes.
To mitigate these risks, HVS has strict guidelines in place when searching for projects to offset up to 10% of our Scope Three emissions.
We want to have an impact in the areas in which we work. Though carbon emissions are not limited by borders, HVS looks for offsetting schemes that operate in the UK. This not only ensures that the offset carbon is additional, but allows us to visit the sites and check on the progress of our offsetting projects.
HVS only supports high impact projects. Carbon offsetting is a great opportunity to enhance the just transition, reducing emissions while supporting communities.
We also ensure that any carbon offsetting scheme we work with is fully accredited and audited by offsetting industry regulators.
Going For Gold
The Olympic Motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.”
A similar message could be applied to the push for sustainability and net-zero.
We need to cut emissions fast.
Global temperatures and emissions are rising higher every year.
Stronger action must be taken by companies, governments and individuals to reduce their climate impacts.
This can only be achieved by working together, combining our knowledge and effort to achieve net-zero and usher in the just transition.
This year at HVS we worked across the whole business, pushing to be the best we possibly could. Much like the athletes at the Paris Olympics it took consistency, dedication, and a hard working team to achieve our Gold Medal.
We could not be prouder, but are already turning our attention to doing better next year!
Here’s to the future! Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.
References Paris 2024 Legacy Plan