Eight disadvantaged schools across the country will receive between 20 and 40 trees, as well as training and education on how to maintain the trees facilitated by Food & Trees for Africa, a greening, climate change action and food security social enterprise. This will enhance and create a nurturing environment for the schools and will provide lasting benefit to generations of children and their communities alike.

“I believe it is every person’s responsibility to adopt low-carbon practices, and businesses are made of people. Raising public awareness and encouraging choices that support ethical companies will result in pressure being felt by other suppliers to follow suit”, said CEO, Ryan Bakos. “I believe the chain reaction is the only thing that might save our wonderful and precious planet!”

Bakos is not only committed to offsetting the company’s monthly carbon emissions, he has also begun implementing a plan to reduce it’s energy consumption which accounts for over 75% of the retailer’s total carbon emissions.  

A carbon footprint and energy report by Global Carbon Exchange (GCX) highlighted how reductions could be achieved so Bakos devised a financially sustainable plan which spread the cost of converting his current lighting system (the most energy intensive component of Bakos Brothers Furniture Retailers operations), to an energy efficient system, over the next two years.  

Total payback for the entire project will also be achieved in the 23rd month of the conversion, but emission reductions and financial savings began with the first lights that were converted and will continue steadily as more energy efficient lighting is fitted. This will also result in less and less offsets being purchased monthly until the new system has been fully installed at all five of the company’s Johannesburg premises.  

Looking at today’s international leaders like Virgin, HSBC, Mark’s and Spenser’s, Google, Ikea and Nike it is clear that the old business model of profiting at the expense of everything and everyone has been replaced by a sustainable model that does not separate responsible environmental and social practices from raising profitability and increasing market share.

“Climate change has the potential to adversely affect our environment, our communities and our economy unless we take action now – to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts.”

Our earth is undoubtedly getting warm day by day due to the emissions of carbon dioxide and other Greenhouse Gases (GHG’s) from various human activities including industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use, such as deforestation etc. Global warming is primarily a problem of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are many heat-trapping gases (from methane to water vapor), but CO2 puts us at the greatest risk of irreversible changes if it continues to accumulate unabated in the atmosphere. CO2 remains in the atmosphere longer than the other major heat-trapping gases emitted as a result of human activities. A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change.

Carbon dioxide, the most significant (both in terms of abundance and impact) anthropogenic greenhouse gas, is a natural and essential part of the atmosphere. It is required for the photosynthesis of all plants (photosynthesis is the basis of life on Earth by providing oxygen and huge quantities of organic compounds). Vital for life it is also good for our planet but only at very small concentrations. Too much concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere can turns into a deadly equation, causing adverse effects. About one third of the carbon dioxide that humans produce by burning fossil fuels is being absorbed by the world’s oceans, gradually causing seawater to become more acidic.

As Global warming has threatened us with huge economic dislocations, more powerful storms, diseases, catastrophic droughts, dwindling food supplies, unprecedented floods, and vanishing coastal areas; the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system is all that is now required to save the life on our planet.

To protect ourselves, our economy, and our land from the adverse effects of climate change, we must reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We should try to compensate for the emissions produced by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving somewhere else. Being carbon neutral is tough but it is our social responsibility to protect the planet for future generations.

Carbon credits are an element used to aid in regulation of the amount of gases that are being released into the air. Carbon “credits” or “offsets” help us to adopt a carbon neutral lifestyle with ease. If you want to go towards neutrality or perhaps adopt a reduce/offset strategy you can buy carbon offsets once you know your footprint.

Going carbon neutral is really not overly difficult, though many complain that cost is what mainly gets in the way. The truth is that while it might be expensive at first, going carbon neutral can actually be cheaper in the long run and it helps to clean the air. Going carbon neutral basically means that an individual or a business use alternative ways to get around, to reduce the amount of fossil fuels being burned, cutting down on the emissions being created by heating and electricity, turning to alternative renewable energy sources, and offsetting the carbons that the individual or business put into the air. To be truly carbon neutral means that absolutely no carbon emissions are being released into the air by the individual or business.

Going completely carbon neutral can be difficult and people are always looking for an easier way to do this. The fact is that going carbon neutral is not easy for everyone because it requires a change, though a company that has a little more money may have an easier time making the change than less profitable individuals or businesses. As mentioned before, initial costs are often blamed for the disinterest in making the changes in the business or home to eventually become carbon neutral. What many have to think about is the long-term rather than the immediate costs. Switching over to renewable energy will save on energy and heating bills and while this is saving an incredible amount of money in the long run, the business is looking good for taking part in reducing harmful emissions.

Of course, while making the changes in one day would be great, it is not easy to do; however, there are easy things that can be done in order to reduce carbon emissions and start the change to becoming carbon neutral. Five top practical things to do in order to minimize emissions would be:

•Reducing the amount of electricity being used by turning off machinery, lights and computers that are not being used.

•Reduce the amount of hot water being used, which will help save energy that is needed for heating.

•Become more practical in the use of transportation. Encourage employees to use public transportation and car pool.

•Insulate the building so that less energy is required to heat or cool the building.

•Offset emissions that are being put into the air by purchasing carbon credits.

Environmental concerns are leading businesses to cut back on their CO2 output. But some go further by offsetting what they produce to become ‘carbon neutral.’ Morgan Lovell’s Riccardo Rizzi examines carbon offsetting in the workplace

The science is far too complex to explain in such a short article but – in very general terms – carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas, and its levels in the atmosphere are increasing steadily. Some people claim that this increase is entirely natural, but atmospheric CO2 levels have very rarely been as high as they are today. Ultimately, that is having an effect on our planet.

Practically everything we do, as humans, results in some sort of CO2 emission, which the planet can cope with, to a certain degree. In the grand scheme of things, human action does not account for that much of the CO2 in the atmosphere, but the percentage is on the rise. It’s an ongoing debate, but scientists believe that the increased levels of CO2 will cause massive changes to our global climate.

Natural sources of CO2 are almost completely balanced by natural CO2 ‘sinks’, mainly the oceans and plants, which remove the gas from the atmosphere. Man-made sources of CO2 are not so balanced, which means that we should do something to stop generating as much of the gas, or find ways of reducing its levels.

1. The built environment

Energy produced from non-renewable sources and consumed in the built environment accounts for approximately 50 per cent of UK’s CO2 emissions, contributing to climate change, consuming resources and adding to pollution. This is according to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

2. Why not cut back?

Of course, people and businesses can try to cut back on their CO2 emissions. This can be quite simple, for example by using less energy, creating less waste, and increasing the amount of recycling that we do, among other things. However, there are often instances where we can’t reduce emissions, no matter how hard we try, and so we can try to compensate for these instead. That is where the concept of offsetting comes in.

3. Carbon offsetting

In offsetting carbon emissions, you are paying someone to make emissions’ reductions on your behalf. These reductions are produced through investment in renewable energy, or energy efficiency projects, or reforestation.

In order to offset, the amount of CO2 created from activities has to be calculated, and then an equivalent amount of emissions’ reductions purchased.

These reductions result from projects that need the carbon finance in order to get started. For example, in some cases, wind farms in India are not commercially viable as an alternative to the traditional coal-burning power station. However, selling emissions’ reductions gives the project an additional source of revenue, and so the project becomes a commercial possibility.

4. Measuring emissions

Carbon emissions can be calculated in a variety of ways, but usually it means measuring office energy consumption, business travel, waste generation and employee commuting. These figures are then passed to a company such as The CarbonNeutral Company, which works with independent scientific advisors, to calculate the resulting CO2.

5. Buying credits

Once the number of credits needed to offset emissions has been calculated, offsetting companies can help find projects to invest in. They then sell the credits required. For example, in 2006, Morgan Lovell caused 575 tonnes of CO2 to be emitted. This was then offset through the purchase of carbon credits generated by a reforestation project in Wales and a methane capture project in the United States. For Morgan Lovell to be identified as a CarbonNeutral company, it has had to complete a four-stage process; measure its emissions, set targets, reduce internally and externally – through carbon offsets – and then engage the necessary audiences to achieve this.

6. The process

Offsetting the CO2 emissions of an office fit-out project is exactly the same procedure as for any other activity, such as offsetting flight emissions. At Morgan Lovell, data relating to how much energy has been consumed during the fit out is collected, and then the information is passed on to an offsetting company to work out the resulting ‘carbon footprint’.

One example of a recent fit out project caused 19.8 tonnes of CO2 to be indirectly generated. This came from the following sources: 0.9 tonnes came from vehicle deliveries, 6.5 tonnes came from electricity consumption, 3.8 tonnes came from commuting to site, 0.2 tonnes came from waste, and 9.3 tonnes came from embodied energy of materials.

It was offset through the purchase of 19.8 tonnes’ worth of emissions reductions from a wind farm in India.

Key Points

• Scientists believe that the increased levels of CO2 will cause massive changes to the climate.

• Energy from non-renewable sources and consumed in the built environment accounts for the UK’s CO2 emissions.

• When you reach the point where you can’t cut back any further, the next stage is to offset

• In offsetting carbon emissions, you are paying someone to make emissions’ reductions on your behalf

• Once the number of credits needed to offset emissions has been calculated , offsetting companies can help find projects to invest in

• An example of a recent fit out project caused 19.8 tonnes of CO2 to be indirectly generated. It was offset through the purchase of 19.8 tonnes’ worth of emissions reductions from a wind farm in India

Riccardo Rizzi is an environmental manager at office transformation specialist Morgan Lovell

This article first appeared in FM World, 2 November 2007

Find out more about sustainable office fit out at http://www.morganlovell.com