Finding your way: the courageous journey to a sustainable decarbonisation

Over the next decade, the relationship between business and the natural world will be a defining one.

Citizens, institutions, and companies must work together to accelerate the transformative shifts required to address climate change. Collective and courageous actions are necessary to rapidly achieve sustainability targets and emissions reductions to define a new model of wellbeing for humans and unlock the economic opportunity that comes with it.

Businesses, in particular, need to minimise their environmental impact and decarbonise their operations – not just to meet consumer expectations or regulatory requirements, but because it is the responsible thing to do for our economy and society.

In our recent Global Turning Point report, 89% of C-level executives surveyed agreed that there is a “global climate emergency” and 79% see the world at a tipping point for responding to climate change. Our Sustainable Actions Index Survey found that nearly half of respondents (49%) reported experiencing a climate-related event – drought, wildfire, extreme heat, severe storm.

Deloitte’s Global Turning Point modelling also shows that unchecked climate change, where global average temperatures rise by 3C, could cost the global economy US $ 178 trillion in net present value terms from 2021-2070. Any change in emissions (and, correspondingly, temperatures) over time results in a change to these impacts and their interactions. The economy impacts the climate, and the climate impacts the economy. Only when the economy and the climate are sound, human beings are able to conquer new heights of welfare.

To face these challenges, businesses need to break the status quo, and fundamentally transform operations, innovating with new solutions enabled by research and technology. However, innovation must be respectful of humans and their wellbeing, delivering new models and solutions that are themselves sustainable in nature.

The decarbonisation of the economic system, i.e. the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by businesses and society as a whole, is rightfully considered one of the key milestones of Sustainable Innovation. Decarbonisation is essential to break the old industrial paradigm, foster the energy transition and have a more sustainable society. Innovation is the only method to drive this change rapidly and effectively.

AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION FOR A GREENER WORLD

We are working together with early adopter clients through our decarbonisation solution, an innovative end-to-end strategic platform that can closely assess emissions across the business value chain, helping organizations to define a tailored decarbonisation journey, regardless of size, scale, or the industry they work in.

Developed by Deloitte experts in innovation, sustainability, technology, and data analysis from across our Global network and Industries, the innovative solution is made of different modules and can be tailored to assess organisation’s status quo, define adequate carbon emission targets, and investigate abatement projects, cashflows and roadmaps. All this by using the power of data analysis, which is paramount to evaluate advancement of the project, and its profitability and societal impact.

Eric Vennix, Energy Resources, and Industrials Leader in North and South Europe, has been working with a number of businesses on their decarbonisation projects:

“These pilots are not about just implementing a solution, but about analysing and shaping the journey, and our decarbonisation solution provides the right intelligence and modelling to shape that journey. At Deloitte we have strategist, innovation experts, environmental engineers, industry practitioners, IT engineers, risk managers, financial analyst and experienced PMOs. It’s an in-house, multidisciplinary team of true sectoral experts all passionate and dedicated to innovation and decarbonisation. The clients now utilising our decarbonisation solution have a better view of their carbon footprints and the choices available, so now they are able to better consider what steps to take as part of their business and strategic planning, while continuously monitoring the advancement of their abatement projects.”

ACCELERATE THE JOURNEY, NOW MORE THAN EVER

Europe is widely regarded as a global leader in decarbonisation because of its regulatory frameworks, technological innovations, and its history of investment into the energy transition, however we are not quite there yet. Those looking to take action should ask these key questions:

1. Where are you right now in terms of decarbonisation targets? Are your ambitions bold enough?
2. How robust are your processes for data collection (particularly around Scope 3/value chain emissions, which are receiving extensive investor scrutiny) and what benefits could there be in improving these?
3. How credible are your targets? Do you know what sits behind them? Do you have interim targets in place?
4. Would you benefit from abatement scenario selection? Do you have the right intellectual resources, capabilities, and specialists to undertake this detailed work?
5. Which journey shall you embark on to achieve compelling objectives on time and on budget?

The transition to a greener and more sustainable economy does not only represent an existential need for current and future generations, but as our Global Turning Point report shows, it can also enhance the growth of global and regional economies to a better future. It’s time to accelerate our journey now more than ever, adopting an innovative outlook and a human centric perspective.

If you’re interested in discussing the opportunities that our decarbonisation solution might benefit your business, get in touch with me or one of the team.