We’ve spoke about SECR, ESOS, UK SRS, BICS… just about any acronym related to sustainability legislation and you can bet we’ve got it covered, but what about those who don’t fit into the mandatory threshold? Is there a product for SME’s or businesses that don’t fit the threshold but want to be sustainable?
According to Sage surveys, 83% of SMEs highlight sustainability as a priority for their business but only 8% prepare reports that are verified as being robust, accurate and quantifiable. The reason for the gap is also well documented with PWC reporting that SMEs don’t get started because they lack the time, the resource and the know how in house.
Carbon Baseline Reporting (CBR) allows businesses, who value voluntary reporting, do so in a cost-effective manner. Achieving net-zero goal requires more than just compliance from large corporations; it requires collective effort. CBR empowers the wider community to voluntarily act, proving sustainability is achievable for everyone.
In its simplest form, it’s a 7-step framework designed for SMEs to gain a clear and accurate view of their organisation’s emissions profile. It demonstrates a business’s environmental impact, identifying carbon reduction opportunities alongside ways to reduce energy consumption and utility costs.
What makes this different is its flexibility; CBR can be used on its own, or as a foundation for future net-zero strategies and legislative compliance (like SECR when a business reaches the threshold)- giving businesses more choice on how they want to start their journey to net-zero, regardless of budget or resources.
We know that Carbon Baseline Reporting works, because we use it for our own emissions.
We continuously look to improve our own emissions and thanks to CBR we have identified factors like cutting digital waste, implementing travel policies, promoting remote & flexible working alongside increasing our sustainable partnerships as ways to contribute to our target emissions for next year.
Thanks to the above, over the past year we have been able to not only lead by example, but also have decreased our total emissions (Scopes 1-3) to 10.95 tCO2e from 12.46 tCO2e and our intensity metrics to 13.74 tCO2e/£M from 15.19 tCO2e/£M.
Our work with Harper Macleod LLP is a prime example. We began by using CBR and as the client grew, we moved seamlessly onto SECR, moving from basic, mandatory reporting for in-house reasons to measuring voluntary Scope 3 emissions for external reporting. Something that was originally tedious to implement to now valuing long-term sustainability within their business.
It’s not only Harper Macleod we have used CBR with, we have worked with organisations like Carr Gomm, Aberdeen Science Center and Pollock United to help build a tailored roadmap towards their sustainable goals
“While the outputs from the Carbon Baseline Reporting project were technical and complex, the team at Boxfish worked with us to make the process both simple and enjoyable” – Aberdeen Science Center
“This report provided us with a substantial amount of actionable and achievable recommendations – Boxfish’ expertise not only helped guide us on how to get started, but also took the time to build trusted relationships” – Pollock United
We’ve worked with dozens of businesses with Carbon Baseline Reporting, aiding them in either with the first steps on their sustainable journey or to bridge the gap between voluntary and mandatory reporting. Why don’t you become the next?
Let us help you make the complex world of sustainability, simple!