Why are businesses becoming carbon neutral?

While in the past, emissions and environmental concerns might have been considered niche, fringe issues that didn’t impact most businesses, this is absolutely no longer the case. It now concerns every level of society – the UK government itself has a target of achieving net zero on a national scale by 2050. There are multiple reasons that businesses are becoming carbon neutral, from legal compliance to meeting the shifting expectations of the public. Let’s take a closer look at why businesses are becoming carbon neutral.

Regulatory compliance

Back in 2019, the UK became one of the first major economies to pass zero emission laws. This had the effect of adding another legal element to the topic of carbon neutrality. In order to meet targets and achieve regulatory compliance, businesses in almost every sector will have to make significant changes.

The exact regulations that will require compliance obviously differ from industry to industry, but in all cases, they’re likely to become more stringent in the coming years. It’s always best to be safely in the green zone, rather than racing to catch up and face potential warnings and fines.

Meeting public expectations

Another key reason why businesses are becoming carbon neutral is the general shift in public expectations. People are increasingly coming to see environmental concerns as key topics of interest when interacting with companies; green credentials are no longer optional extras for a lot of people, they are deal breakers. To stay competitive in the modern era, as increasing numbers of businesses are striving to achieve carbon neutrality, it’s important to take innovative steps in this direction to stay ahead of the curve.

Integrating carbon neutrality into your marketing

It’s also incredibly important to communicate how you’re meeting and exceeding environmental regulations to your potential and existing customers. If done in the wrong way, companies might face accusations of greenwashing – the process of exaggerating green credentials to the public.

This fine balance of promoting your company values while remaining truthful can be tough to achieve, which is why many B2B businesses in particular choose to seek the expertise of companies such as Headley Media. Marketing experts have extensive experience in communicating similarly delicate matters and can advise on how to do so in an appropriate manner which suit your market or the approach required toward your target audiences.

How to achieve carbon neutrality

Achieving carbon neutrality is a tricky process, and will never be exactly the same for any two businesses. There are, however, several broad steps that every business can take. The first is to calculate your CO2 footprint. This involves adding up all of the emissions that your organisation emits, which in itself can be a tricky process. Next, you need to try to minimise each of those figures, bringing them as close to zero as possible. Finally, if that number ends up being positive, you’ll need to offset the remaining amount by using high-quality carbon offsetting solutions.