Metrics
- 580+ carbon footprint calculations/verifications
- 20+ industries
- 10+ year partnership
Background
Since 2012, Nature Positive has been a third-party assessor of Climate Impact Partners (CIP) (formerly Natural Capital Partners) CarbonNeutral® certifications. We calculate and verify a range of carbon footprints for CIP’s clients, from organisational to product level. In the last five years alone, we have completed over 580 carbon footprint calculations or verifications on behalf of CIP, for its multinational corporation clients across more than 20 industries.
Challenges
Because we work with clients of various sizes, in different locations and at different stages of sustainability maturity, we have adapted our approach to meet each client’s needs. A few common challenges have included the following.
- Clients completing their first carbon footprint assessment with Climate Impact Partners are typically in the early stages of their sustainability journey. Consequently, the data required to translate organisational activities into carbon emissions figures is often limited, particularly since these assessments are conducted retrospectively to the reporting period.
- Each country has unique infrastructure, leading to nuances in the activity data of Climate Impact Partners’ global clients. Data collection methods can also vary between countries, requiring us to apply different assumptions. For example, for waste data, some offices will provide their data in weight (and in different units), others will provide it in volume, and in the absence of data, some require benchmark assumptions. Nature Positive’s consultants must ensure accurate interpretation and contextualisation of data, in order to deliver clear and accurate calculations.
- When working with multinational clients, the complexity arises from handling various types of activity data for the same emission category. For example, mains gas data in UK vs. district heating data in Estonia.
Solutions
Nature Positive has adopted the following solutions to overcome some of the common challenges we face when calculating and verifying carbon footprints.
- When clients are in the nascent stages of their sustainability journey and where data is limited, we can work with the client to convert secondary data into a form that it is feasible to convert into emissions.
- Where data is limited, we provide guidance on how data can be improved ready for subsequent assessments. We do this via a supplementary report that supports the GHG assessment and by providing a user friendly data capture form alongside a ‘data hierarchy’ table that identifies the ideal (primary) data we seek, along with conventional alternatives.
- For larger companies or clients working in multiple geographies, our data form facilitates the centralisation of internal data collection processes. Once entered into the form, we consolidate the data, enabling us to efficiently extract key information from large datasets.
Impact
Our breadth of carbon accounting experience means we are well positioned to guide clients through every stage of data collection for a wide range of carbon footprint calculations and verifications.
Clients often comment on our supportive guidance, which helps them enhance the quality and availability of data in the future. Using this guidance and our comprehensive data form, they find the data collection process becomes simpler and more streamlined each year.
Clients are consistently impressed by our expertise and collaborative ways of working, which often prompts them to seek additional related services from Nature Positive. This includes support with developing decarbonisation strategies and targets, driving organisational transformation through employee engagement and enhancing sustainability reporting.