What is Carbon Accounting?
Carbon Accounting is a process that assesses your organisation’s impact on the climate (known as your carbon footprint), from the electricity your office uses, to the travel-to-work habits of your staff, to the supply chains you use. It can be an extensive process that often takes several months.
Most businesses, especially small businesses, can’t afford to employ someone to focus on carbon accounting, which is why you can hire a Carbon Accountant to do this for you. You know you’re getting someone qualified, who understands carbon accounting inside-out, and can lead your staff through the process of getting all the necessary data and documents together. Cynnal Cymru has just launched a Carbon Accounting service for small and medium businesses across Wales!
Can I do my own carbon accounting?
You can absolutely do your own carbon accounting. If you’d prefer to do it yourself, Cynnal Cymru can provide advice on the best tools to use – or you can become a member for free advice on the process from our Sustainability Advisors.
If you do choose to do your own carbon accounting, you’ll need a lot of different data, including:
- Number of staff
- Company turnover
- Metered gas, water, and electricity usage
- Weight and type of waste
- Types, number, and weight of goods purchased
- Money spent on services
- Transportation in type and distance for business travel and staff commutes
Even just collecting this information and ensuring you don’t miss anything out can seem a daunting task, which might not feel worth it for small businesses. Hiring someone to guide you through that process, ensure you get all the right information, and then do the calculations for you can lift a weight off your shoulders – and for a fraction of the price of a full-time employee!
Why should I care about carbon accounting?
It’s a great question that we hear often – why does my organisation need carbon accounting? Is carbon accounting just for big businesses with huge carbon footprints?
While big businesses should absolutely be leading the way on carbon footprinting, all organisations of every size should be thinking about their carbon impacts. We are currently in a climate crisis, and if we ignore our own contributions then we will end up causing further harm. In Wales, we are legally committed (through the Environment (Wales) Act 2016) to reduce our carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. That’s only 26 years away! Whether you have just started a new business or are an established not-for-profit that has started looking carefully at its carbon output, you’ll want to start working towards net zero emissions in your organisation sooner rather than later.
Beyond your legal requirements, going through carbon accounting helps you better understand your emissions and gives you opportunities for reduction. If you base your organisation’s sustainability decisions on guesses, you may overlook big areas for improvement and mislead your staff, suppliers or community. With Carbon Accounting, you can set targets based on real data, which you can monitor based on international standards and targets. With the support of a Carbon Accountant, you can compare your performance year after year and see your progress towards your goals. You will feel more secure in your carbon targets and your team will be able to see the results of the changes they make.
Can I afford to do Carbon Accounting?
We know that small businesses, charities, and nonprofits operatre within very tight budgets. We get it! As a charity ourselves, we understand that you can’t afford to pay for services you don’t need.
At Cynnal Cymru, we’ve developed a model that works best for organisations like yours and takes into account the pressures on both your time and resources. From £2,250 plus VAT, you can get a full carbon footprint assessment, recommendations for emissions reductions, and a final report that can be shared with your board, customers, and stakeholders.
We also see our role as educational, so as we go through this service, we’ll explain each step to you and give you tips on understanding and improving your carbon footprint. That means that, after your initial carbon accounting process, you may well be equipped to go off and do it yourself in future years. If you want some support and guidance without going through the whole process every year, you can become a member to get free support from our Sustainability Advisors on your carbon accounting needs.
Do you provide any discounts to certain organisations?
Yes! At Cynnal Cymru, our Carbon Accounting package has been developed for small and medium organisations.
Our service is best for (but not limited to):
- Organisations of 1-49 employees
- Not-for-profit organisations
- Organisations in one building or location — including rented offices
- Organisations that offer services rather than sell and manufacture goods
We provide a Membership programme for organisations like these, which provides you with benefits such as networking, events, and added support from our team. As a Cynnal Cymru member, you will receive a 10% discount on your Carbon Accounting services, as well as free consultancy from our Sustainability Advisors.
How do I start my Carbon Accounting journey?
Ready to speak to the team? You can contact us to speak to a Sustainability Advisor and begin your journey!
If you’re not sure yet, read more about our Carbon Accounting service here.
