Create an action plan

After measuring the carbon footprint of your business, you will have a baseline for setting emissions reduction targets. Your emissions reduction plan is a practical document that outlines what you will do to achieve your targets.

Make your plan smart

An emissions management/reduction plan details how and when your organisation will meet its emissions reduction goals. Your plan should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound.

Your plan should outline the budget and other resource required to reach your targets. If you’re just starting out your emissions reduction journey, it’s a good idea to prioritise actions with short-term payback that can be implemented easily. These quick wins will help you build momentum and get support for other big-impact initiatives.

How to set emissions reduction targets

One of the first things you need to do when creating an emissions reduction plan is to set some goals and targets. 

To define your targets, you could start with your ultimate goal and work backwards, or start with actions you know you can implement, and assess what else could be possible. Either way, you should look to set out targets and actions for the long, medium and short term.

Absolute vs intensity-based targets

You can measure emissions using absolute values (the total amount emitted by your organisation), or by intensity (the amount of emissions per unit – e.g. per product unit or per employee).

Ideally, your overarching emissions target should be absolute – this means that your target doesn’t grow with your business. Nonetheless, taking action to reduce the carbon ‘intensity’ of your products or processes is a useful lever for achieving absolute emissions reduction.

Science-based targets

Companies leading the way are setting science-based targets that ensure they are reducing emissions – throughout their value chain – significantly and quickly enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change. This means ensuring their carbon footprint remains in line with commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming to well below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.