8 Ways to Plot your Path to Net Zero

Posted in ManufacturingLeadership on Apr 20 2023, by Fiona SextonFiona Sexton

What is a glidepath?

It's an amazing instrument that shows any deviation from the the ideal route of descent and landing for an airplane.

It’s just like what CoolPlanet’s Glidepath is doing for customers who are navigating their way to net zero in line with initiatives like the Science Based Targets (SBTis) Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), to name just a few.

The Net Zero Mindset

Net zero has become the benchmark for corporate environmental ambition, but what does it really mean in practical terms? What exactly are businesses striving for?

  • Clean fuel and energy. A focus on low hanging fruits such as improvement in energy efficiency and lowering the demand for primary fossil sources
  • The switch to renewable energy, like solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and blue and green hydrogen.
  • Collaboration with suppliers - getting your  partners on board with net zero is essential to developing low-carbon products.
  • Circularity. Environmental impact doesn’t end when the product ships. Businesses are learning about their responsibility for closing the loop through material recovery, reuse, and recycling and replacement of products.
  • Communication. To build understanding, and implement change, decarbonisation needs to become a part of everyday decisions, and being able to report goals and progress.

It’s tough! Every business faces the same challenges.

These are tough times anyway, between volatile energy prices, increasing carbon pricing, inflation, etc. Against this backdrop, achieving net zero poses a daunting goal, and many senior leaders are not even sure where to start. Here are the most common challenges:

1. Understanding the scope: Achieving net zero requires an understanding of the scale and complexity of the challenge and the need for an integrated approach.

2. Establishing clear goals: essential to identifying the necessary steps to reach net zero and to measuring progress along the way.

3. Financing the transition: An understanding of ROI from capex investments is vital.

4. An integrated strategy: building a strategy that takes into account the interconnectedness of environmental, economic, and social issues is critical for success.

5. Addressing data gaps: data and measurement are necessary to identify the most effective ways to reduce emissions and track progress.

6. Overcoming regulatory challenges: Regulation is tightening and varies depending on the sector.

8. Engaging stakeholders: transparency, engaging stakeholders so they can be involved in the decision-making and ensure successful transition.

The combination of powerful software and experts who understand our processes has delivered significant savings and a fast return of investment”

Marcelo Hector Marinelli

Group Energy Manager, Louis Dreyfus Company

Introducing Net Zero Glidepath from CoolPlanet.

Thankfully, there is a way through the fog! For every business, irrespective of size, industry, maturity or complexity, Net Zero Glidepath is an incredibly powerful new tool, allowing you to navigate your company’s unique pathway to Net Zero. With it you can now

  • Visually plot your path to net zero and track each of the actions that moves you closer to your goal.
  • Register, map and manage each decarbonization opportunity as it’s identified.
  • Clearly see the impact of reprioritisation effects on short- and long-term goals in a framework
  • Collaborate with your team (or our subject-matter experts) within the platform, assigning responsibility for each activity.
  • Follow the progress of every decarbonization action from idea to realisation - decision-making is now so much clearer!
  • Monitor the carbon, energy, and financial savings across your entire organisation in real time. The magic!
  • Deep dive into each opportunity to review dashboards, and documentation, and see current progress by contrasting current trajectory, baseline, and annual targets.

Net Zero Glidepath helps everyone – from the plant room to the boardroom – visualise the path to net zero and understand what it takes to get there.