Until CEOs take ownership of carbon management as a business transformation challenge, not a corporate responsibility issue, their firms will fail to achieve absolute reductions in CO2 emissions, according to a new report from independent research firm Verdantix. World class carbon management requires the appointment of a Chief Sustainability Officer, a cross-functional strategy for reductions with a 2020 target, coordinated business process changes and an integrated carbon management technology platform.

“Dumping carbon management responsibility on CSR Directors without providing them with the authority or budget to execute dooms many carbon reduction plans” commented Peter Charville-Mort, the Verdantix Analyst who led the study. “Our research with 33 industry experts shows that underneath the ‘greenwash,’ most firms flounder with weak carbon management initiatives. Evidence of failure includes CSR and energy managers who don’t get the opportunity to explain carbon issues to senior execs, decision makers who struggle with terrible energy data, unachievable CO2 reduction goals and initiatives that progress at a snail’s pace due to insufficient staff and funds.”

The Verdantix report, Best Practices Carbon Management, provides detailed advice on the development and implementation of a carbon business transformation plan. To achieve absolute CO2 reductions year-to-year, firms need to:

• Strengthen governance to deliver transformational change. Dumping a broad carbon-related change program on the CSR Director is doomed to fail. Best-in-class carbon management requires a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) with a small Program Management Office that quantifies value and risk, co-ordinates initiatives and engages stakeholders. The CSO should be picked from a general management role internally.
• Create a 2020 strategy for carbon management. CEOs first need to get the right people on the bus — with the CSO in the driving seat — and then buy into the carbon journey to 2020. Post-2020 firms need a transformation vision, due to much tighter regulation and intense customer pressure for sustainability credentials. Climate change and sustainability advisors at firms like Deloitte and Ernst & Young are well positioned to provide strategic input.
• Design cross-functional process changes across energy, operations and finance. Ongoing cuts in carbon emissions require a portfolio of projects such as building management systems and electric vehicle fleet trials. To succeed with multiple, simultaneous changes firms need a program based on granular energy and fuel data, financial analysis of projects and assessment of unintended consequences. Consultants like CH2M Hill, Scott Wilson and WSP Energy have expertise in project-related carbon and energy services.

Source: Verdantix, London UK, 16 Feb 2010. To view the full article please click here.