The Global Reporting Inititative

TriLibrium, the firm that I founded, released its first sustainability report yesterday. We used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework to report on our economic, environmental, and social performance. Follow this link to download a PDF of our report.

Sustainability reports based on the GRI framework allow an organization to benchmark their performance with respect to laws, norms, codes, performance standards and voluntary initiatives. It also allows a company to demonstrate commitment to sustainable development and, to compare organizational performance over time.

The GRI is a standardized approach that can be used by any size organization regardless of geographic location. Has your company prepared such a report? If so, what would it say?

If your organization is promoting its "greenness", it ought to complete or be planning to complete a Sustainability Report as well as a greenhouse gas inventory. In my opinion, a company must do these things or it risks being labeled a greenwasher and with it, its reputation and brand value.

“True” Commitment

I’ve been writing about the A.T. Kearney report that discussed their findings that the market rewarded “companies who show a ‘true’ commitment to sustainability.”  What is a ‘true’ commitment to sustainability and what does that look like?

To me, using sustainability as a strategic driver means you make that focus primary.  Making money and being financially sound are also important but if they become the primary focus or raison d’etre, I believe you’ll make short-term decisions and when the two conflict, you’ll likely make the wrong choice.

Another sign of “true” commitment is leadership and a continuous drive for improvement.  I toured Rejuvination's manufacturing facility this week and learned that they sit down each year and evaluate all areas of their business to ensure they are using the current best practices.  Is there a better chemical, process or material they should be using, if so, they change.  

One thing I’m beginning to use as a criteria between a deep and real commitment to sustainability and a lesser, questionable commitment is the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory.

No GHG inventory and no plans to do one = Questionable commitment.  Are they just greenwashing?

Taking action to minimize your waste stream is important. The largest and arguably most dangerous waste streams are your unseen and unmeasured carbon emissions. 

Dr. James Hansen, the NASA scientist and climate expert, recently wrote that “our planet really is in peril” as a result of our carbon emissions.

Will 2009 be the year you do your GHG inventory, or are you prepared to be accused of greenwashing and lose your brand and market position?

TriLibrium and our GHG Reporting

Yesterday I mentioned that a TriLibrium stakeholder requested information about our GHG claims.  Here is our response.

TriLibrium will use the GHG Protocol developed by World Resources Institute.  We will include both direct and indirect emissions in our footprint and will report on the scope of our boundaries at that time.  We intend to include all employee travel.  We will probably exclude customer travel.  We will probably exclude embedded carbon in purchased items due to the cost/benefit of gathering that data.  We intend to offset 150 percent of our measured GHG footprint and believe this buffer is more than sufficient.

Our company began operations October 1, 2008.  Our current office uses 100% renewable electricity purchased from Pacific Power and we pay additional money with each bill for Salmon Habitat Restoration.  We recycle 100 percent of materials that can reasonably be recycled in Portland including glass, metal, cardboard, plastic, and paper.  We buy in bulk and reduce, reuse and recycle where we can.  We currently put out just one small garbage can per month of solid waste.

Since inception, we have logged all employee travel whether by car, bike, train or bus.  Based on our experience, this is likely to be 80 percent or more of our GHG footprint. 

We will include natural gas consumption in our footprint inventory and will offset that accordingly.  We have not selected our offset provider.  I have personally used The Climate Trust to offset my personal GHG footprint.

We intend to do an annual CSR report complete with a GHG inventory sometime this summer and then each subsequent summer.  We will select an offset provider at that time based on best practices.  Colleagues at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute developed COPEM (Carbon Offset Provider Evaluation Matrix) which we will use to guide our selection.

As noted above, we will not include customer travel in our GHG footprint.  We have excluded it from our inventory because it is hard for us to capture this data and believe it is primarily our customer’s responsibility and not ours.  We are aware of this issue however and provide our customers with ways to reduce their travel when engaging with us through the use of secure, electronic data sharing portals, mail, fax and other means. 

A GHG footprint is your baseline measurement

I was speaking with the owner of a successful progressive business. His company is environmentally conscious and plays an active role in the sustainable community here in Portland. Founded in 2001, they have been steadily building their business. Our discussion turned to triple-bottom line accounting and he acknowledged their business didn’t have many, if any, non-financial measurements. Like most individuals and organizations, they didn’t know their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint.

A GHG footprint analysis is a measurement of an organization’s direct and indirect GHG emissions. Greenhouse gases contribute to global warming through the greenhouse effect. They include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, CFCs and water vapor. A GHG report will measure an entity’s direct and indirect emissions of the various gases, and then convert the data to CO2 equivalents. The final result is the tons of CO2 equivalents released over the year. This is a number to be managed.

As the old saying goes, “What gets measured get’s managed”. The GHG reduction process is a 1, 2, 3 process beginning with measuring emissions, then reducing and finally, offsetting the GHG emissions that can’t be eliminated. The first step in this process is the measurement. Every business should begin this measurement process now. Businesses can download free tools to get started at http://www.ghgprotocol.org/. Individuals might want to start here: www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator.

Performing a GHG inventory will allow you to understand the source of your emissions. I was on a team who performed the first GHG inventory for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (http://www.bgiedu.org/) and it was eye opening to see that well over half the annual emissions was from air travel by a small percentage of students, faculty and staff. We wouldn’t have known this without performing the footprint analysis.

For a great list of the Top 10 things businesses can do to reduce their emissions you can start here: http://www.carbonconcierge.com/act/top-10-things-businesses-can-do.

Individuals can start here for a similar list: http://www.carbonconcierge.com/act/top-10-things-businesses-can-do.

Having done a GHG inventory, I can assure you they aren’t that hard. There are experts who can help if you don’t have the time or skills. I actually offer reduced rates for this type of work because I want to help.

The process will engage your employees and could help you develop a competitive advantage. Customers, especially in the green community, will increasingly be asking about your footprint. I predict it won’t be long before a business that doesn’t know its footprint will be in the same boat as a company that doesn’t recycle – unattractive to customers, employees, regulators and the community.