However, this is a time-critical issue. All organisations have a responsibility to improve their environmental credentials and limit the negative impacts of future climate disasters. We cannot do nothing. They must start on a path towards decarbonisation today and put climate action at the forefront of their efforts.
To start this journey successfully, organisations need to understand the material impacts they have on the planet and society, and to identify the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and decarbonisation.
From there, a strategy should be implemented to demonstrate commitment to decarbonisation from the highest level of governance. Effective decarbonisation relies on good governance and leaders making clear and vocal signals to help others understand why environmental changes are important to drive the culture and direction of the organisation.
Many of the organisations I work with are beginning to signal their commitment through public climate goals or net zero targets. While these overarching targets – such as net zero by 2050 – provide an overall sense of direction, many feel too far removed from the need to change today.
Ambitious targets need to be supplemented by genuine action. I encourage organisations to put in place meaningful interim targets as part of a clear decarbonisation roadmap to create accountability and reflect the urgent nature of the climate crisis.
A decarbonisation roadmap should be based on robust data which informs the detailed steps that need to be taken. For example, in the housing sector, we see a lot of organisations undertaking stock condition surveys to gain a more granular understanding of the carbon intensity of their portfolio. This represents by far their greatest carbon impact (approximately 90% of emissions) and will inform the crux of their decarbonisation strategy. The same principle can be applied across the public and social sector to focus strategy and resource on those material impacts.
Despite the race to zero being long term in nature, organisations must take immediate action to implement and embed a decarbonisation strategy. Three obvious quick wins come to mind. First, identifying areas of material carbon emissions, alongside relevant mitigations, should be the first step of any strategy.
A second quick win is education. Public and social sector organisations can achieve a lot through educating their stakeholder groups on how their behaviour can improve environmental outcomes. In housing associations, for example, education fosters greater understanding among tenants of how their actions, combined with retrofitting, can contribute to decarbonisation.
Third, peer-to-peer collaboration is incredibly important. No organisation is alone on the race to net zero and the public and social sector is particularly great at sharing knowledge and skills. There are plenty of pockets of good practice across the sector and sharing these more widely will help to inspire other organisations and help drive the race to net zero.
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Social value has always been at the heart of the public and social sector; it defines its meaning and purpose, but sustainability and ESG encompass a much wider remit than social value, and this may be causing confusion as leadership teams struggle to articulate this remit and manage its implementation.
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