The Carbon Trust has flagged up supply chain sustainability, internal carbon pricing, 100% renewable energy commitments and science based targets as practical tools being used by corporates to achieve zero carbon business plans.

According to the Trust, there are some straightforward decisions to make when cutting carbon emissions there, such as investing in energy efficiency, where there is often a compelling business case. However, the Trust says there is a big difference between the incremental progress seen today and the complete transformation of a business so that it is zero carbon by 2050, which is what most sectors will need to achieve to meet a 2 degree target).

Based on its work with a number of large corporates to help them on the path to becoming a zero carbon business by 2050, the Carbon Trust has identified the following four practical initiatives that companies can implement today and use to help shape plans through to 2050.

Supply chain sustainability strategy. Understanding and reporting environmental impacts in the supply / value chain can uncover areas of inefficiency outside an organisation’s direct operational control, as well as the hotspots that offer the greatest opportunity for cost saving and value creation. When companies have better visibility of their supply chain impacts they can search for innovative ways to reduce these, such as changing material inputs, working collaboratively with suppliers, or building more circular business models. The new Carbon Trust Supply Chain Standard – recently achieved by companies including Aviva, Deloitte and Willmott Dixon – creates a framework to help companies start taking action on this.

 Internal carbon pricing. In September 2014, the World Bank and more than 1,000 companies joined calls for carbon pricing. This year the CDP reported that 437 companies say they use an internal carbon price, up from 150 in 2014, with a further 583 companies reporting that they intend to use an internal carbon price in the next two years. Analysis by the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Carbon Trust estimated that in a 2 degree scenario that the global price of carbon is expected to converge at $140 per tonne of CO2 by 2030 and $400 by 2050. In anticipation of this an internal carbon price is becoming an increasingly popular tool to evaluate future investment decisions, though there is still uncertainty and inconsistency in how this is being applied between companies.

 100% renewable energy commitments. In thepast year more than 40 large corporates have joined the RE100 campaign, committing to source 100% of their energy from renewables. Businesses taking part include BT Group, Mars, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, IKEA Group and Nike. This move has been strengthened by changes to corporate reporting under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, allowing businesses to specifically recognise the purchase of clean energy in their carbon accounting. Not only does this give an incentive to energy companies to invest in renewables, as the costs of renewable energy continue to fall then businesses can invest themselves in meeting their own energy needs in this way.

Science-based targets. Climate science is used to inform what the world needs to do to limit warming to no more than 2 degrees, but it can also be used as a guide for what individual businesses need to achieve. If corporates have plans for their future market share and relative efficiency within their sector (which they do), they can similarly look at what their sector needs to achieve in terms of decarbonisation and make plans accordingly. Around 90 companies are now committed to setting science-based targets, including some that have already put them in place, such as Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sony, General Mills and Thalys.

 The Carbon Trust says that businesses that take these approaches will be more likely to thrive during the transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy. They will also gain a competitive advantage from early action, some very useful reputational benefits and increase their ability to flourish under future regulatory action on climate change.