Climate Change Handout 2

This handout is provided to reinforce and supplement the course material. It is the Intellectual Property of Peak Governance Business Advisors Ltd and should not be shared with or distributed to others.

‘Climate Justice’

Climate justice examines concepts such as equality, human rights, collective rights, and the historical responsibilities for climate change. Climate justice actions can include the growing global body of legal action on climate change issues.

Examples Of Key Actions SMEs Have Taken To Achieve Net Zero In The UK By 2050

  • Nominated a Climate Change Champion

  • Embedded a Carbon Reduction policy throughout the SME

  • Embraced the challenges of The Environmental Act 2021

  • Identifying alternative suppliers to mitigate possible resource shortages

  • Installation of heat pumps and other energy efficient measures which are climate friendly

  • Install green refrigerators

  • Active maintenance of plant and machinery to ensure efficiency

  • Contribute to local and national policy discussions

  • Join climate change groups to obtain information and exchange initiatives

Greenwashing

Definition

Greenwashing is when an organization spends more time and money on marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on actually minimizing its environmental impact. It's a deceitful marketing gimmick intended to mislead consumers who prefer to buy goods and services from environmentally conscious brands.

Source: businessnewsdaily.com

Effectively Communicating The Need For Climate Change - Key Actions 

  • Know your audiences. There are many, be careful to make the discussion relevant to the specific audience

  • Listen actively for possibilities

  • Demonstrate that you value the input of the audience

  • Avoid a blame culture

  • Always promote positive action

  • Highlight the benefits of each action, with specific examples

  • Make your actions congruent with your words

  • Use language appropriate to your audience. Include metaphors and analogies where possible.

  • Combine with narrative storytelling.

  • Use visual imagery and experiential scenarios.

  • Balance the discussion with scientific information, using technical language only where appropriate to the audience.

  • Utilise the knowledge and experience of trusted people committed to climate change in group settings.

Combatting Climate Change

Adaptation

Adaptation looks at how to reduce the negative effects of climate change and how to take advantage of any opportunities that arise to do things differently. It focuses on adjusting to the impacts of climate change to prevent or reduce the negative impacts.  

Adaptation Specific Climate Change Actions

  • Set, document, and commit to a strategy to tackle climate change. Publicise your strategy and support it with a document policy.

  • Calculate your Scope emissions and use these as a benchmark against which you can monitor and report future results. Publicise the outcomes. 

  • Collaborate with other local SMEs to facilitate a ’joined up’ approach to tackling climate change.

  • Increase fuel efficiency in all modes of transport by producing less CO2 emissions

Mitigation:

Mitigation is aimed at tackling the causes and minimising the possible impacts of climate change by doing less of the same things. It focuses on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere in order to slow or stop global climate change.


Mitigation Specific Climate Change Actions

  • Dietary changes - eat less meat as that and dairy products have a much higher footprint than plant-based proteins.

  • Transport options - use electric vehicles/walk and cycle more/take less flights as they have the highest carbon footprint per km travelled.

  • Make less use of high-consumption tech devices.

  • Buy less clothes.

  • Use wood burners less often.

  • Retrofit buildings to make them more energy efficient.

  • Use biofuels where possible.

  • Insulate buildings.

  • Reduce the number of trees which are cut down. There are few deep dark forests remaining (15bn trees are cut down every year).

  • Rainforests have been reduced by 50%. during the last century. The main drive is beef production, followed by the production of soy. Over 70% of soy produced in South America is used as feed for livestock, which humans then consume.  A third reason is oil palm plantations. 

  • Insect numbers have reduced considerably over the last 30 years.

  • Insects are pollinators., essential in the food chain. Others are hunters, preventing plant-eating insects becoming plagues.  

  • Many soils are now hard and devoid of life. 

  • We eat 50bn chickens per year., many fed on soy. This needs to be drastically reduced.

  • Only 4% of animals are wild.

  • The planet is impoverished. 

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol

What the GHG Protocol requires your company to do

The GHG Protocol requires that companies account for and report all scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. Even though scope 3 emissions accounting is optional, it is unavoidable for a genuine climate action strategy. 

Identifying and accurately calculating greenhouse emissions, especially those that occur in the value chain and are out of control, can be for every company very challenging, as it is very often a complex and detailed task because of the numerous parties and processes involved.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Part 2: Scopes 1, 2, and 3 Explained

Scope Emissions

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emmissions explained in videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_M5SYSCOdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck3uW0bA78k

https://ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools

COP 26

COP 26  - A summary of the actions implemented in the UK to date

  • Net zero targets have been published, and are being monitored

  • Promulgation of the Environment Act 2021

  • Specific task forces established to provide direction and innovation in public policy

  • An initial financial budget has been agreed to tackle climate change.

  • Various laws have been revised to improve H&S by incorporating carbon efficient materials (electric wiring, plumbing materials, lighting).

  • All new properties to be heated by heat pumps from 2025.

  • Boilers will be replaced with heat pumps.

  • Central and local government contract tenders require a pledge to meet Net Zero targets.

  • Increased training to be provided in educational establishments.

Cop 26 Useful sources of information

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56901261

https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/cop26-key-outcomes-and-next-steps-for-the-uk/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/cop26-outcomes-reasons-for-hope-progress/

COP 26  - A summary of the actions implemented in the UK to date

  • Net zero targets have been published, and are being monitored.

  • Promulgation of the Environment Act 2021.

  • Specific task forces established to provide direction and innovation in public policy

  • An initial financial budget has been agreed to tackle climate change.

  • Various laws have been revised to improve H&S by incorporating carbon efficient materials (electric wiring, plumbing materials, lighting).

  • All new properties to be heated by heat pumps.

  • Boilers will be replaced with heat pumps.

  • Central and local government contract tenders require a pledge to meet Net Zero targets.

  • Increased training to be provided in educational establishments.

Certification

The Criteria For Certification By The Carbon Literacy Project

  1. The decision to accredit any individual, or to issue or withhold any certificate, is completely at the discretion of The Carbon Literacy Trust. 

  2. All plans, with accompanying evidence, must be submitted to PGBA within two weeks of the completion of the course. We will forward each submission to The Project.

  3. If the evidence is submitted more than 2 months after completion of training, The Project will require supplementary written evidence which must be completed by the applicant to demonstrate their Carbon Literacy. 

  4. You will be assessed on the evidence you submit. It must be authentic and achievable, linked to your specific ability to deliver.

  5. If you submission is judged insufficient to obtain certification, The Project will in most cases offer you, via PGBA, an option to submit a “structured answer paper” to act as additional evidence 


Tips To Help Develop Your Action Plans 

  • Address ‘big ticket’ items , such as flights, diesel fuelled vehicles, high carbon lifestyle choices

  • Consider mind-mapping your proposed actions

  • Address everyday behaviours that add up to a big impact, for example commuting, diet

  • Make changes that have a strong and lasting legacy, including building upgrades or life choices (vs. lifestyle choices)

  • Take actions that influence others around you at home, at work, working with others in your community, social interactions

  • Be realistic, don’t ‘big it up’ for effect

  • Calculate the carbon footprint impact your actions will have


Section 1 – Society 

In your opinion, as a society, what do we need to do to be net zero by 2038?


Section 2 - Your Individual Agency Action 

This is about actions that you can take without needing the help or permission of another. 

What changes will you make to reduce the impact of climate change?  Explain how much carbon you think this will save and why?


Section 3 - Collective action 

A change we can make collectively to reduce our impact.  Explain how much carbon you think this will save and why?


Group Action Plan

Think about:

  • The role of your organization in society

  • Your role at work and what changes you can make and/or influence in that environment

  • The largest carbon footprint aspects of your role at work and of your organization in general


Climate Change – further reading 

The UK BEIS Report for 2020 Headlines

For the purposes of reporting, greenhouse gas emissions are allocated by BEIS into sectors known as National Communication (NC) sectors. These are:

  • Energy supply

  • Business

  • Transport

  • Public

  • Residential

  • Agriculture

  • Industrial processes

  • Land use, land use change and forestry

  • Waste management  

For details of what is included in each category, and the full report, please visit https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1051408/2020-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf


For more information, please visit  

www.peakgovernance.co.uk

We provide frequent updates to:

  • the Climate Change situation, 

  • the actions which are in progress, 

  • actions which are under consideration, and 

  • how you can have a positive impact to mitigate the effects

The SME Climate Hub

The SME Climate Hub is a global initiative which has a UK branch. The objective is to empower SMEs to take action to tackle climate change and build resilient businesses for the future.

Greenwashing And The Law

Greenwashing is covered by a number of laws in the UK and elsewhere. Some examples are provided below, but the laws are dynamic, and therefore it is important to remain up-to-date with developments/changes. 


The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (UK)
If the customer can prove that the misleading greenwashing tempted them to buy the product (and they would not have done otherwise), they may have a civil case.

Government enforcement actions and civil suits alleging greenwashing are on the rise through a myriad of different laws, including securities regulations, consumer protection laws, fraud and misrepresentation statutes, and advertising standards. 

Some emerging legal trends in greenwashing claims

False, misleading, overstated or unsubstantiated environmental advertising (often referred to as "greenwashing") is largely prohibited under laws and standards that regulate areas of consumer protection and advertising.

https://gowlingwlg.com/en/insights-resources/articles/2022/the-regulation-of-greenwashing/