How to Start Your Journey to Net Zero

With climate change in mind and awareness of the urgency, Xerox has accelerated its net zero roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2040. Xerox is truly committed to caring for the planet and helping to create a more sustainable future.

To help businesses begin their net zero journey, Arena recently held a webinar sharing useful advice on how to develop a roadmap to net zero. During the webinar, we invited Dr Will Armington, Energy and Climate Change Specialist at Xerox to share his expertise and insights on the things to consider when developing a roadmap.

Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the webinar:

1. A Net Zero Roadmap identifies the key elements that are specific to your company that need to be addressed to achieve net zero. A roadmap should set out the pillars of activity, key projects and the timeframes in which they will be carried out.

2. It is not a detailed action plan but should include enough information to highlight what your business needs to do to achieve your net zero goals and reduce your carbon footprint.

3. Technology: A good net zero roadmap will consider the technologies your business can leverage to achieve net zero.

4. Where to start? Developing an effective roadmap begins with developing an emissions reduction strategy. Start by collecting data on scope 1 emissions (direct emissions from your business operations) and scope 2 emissions (indirect energy emissions) and identify the activities your business can take to make reductions in greenhouse gases.

5. Scope 3 emissions should then be considered. These are other indirect emissions such as those from upstream transport and distribution and employee commuting.

6. Get leadership support by integrating low carbon focus into business processes across the organisation. Seek support from outside the organisation, the sustainability community is a collaborative environment that could be of great value to your business.

7. Begin applying for sustainability awards to demonstrate your commitment and efforts, a good starting point is the EcoVadis Medals. Which recognises companies that have completed the EcoVadis assessment process and demonstrated a strong management system to address their sustainability criteria. You would also need to meet specific licensing and eligibility criteria.

¹UK GOV: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147457/powering-up-britain-net-zero-growth-plan.pdf