Green business is smart

# CREATE IT

Green Business Is Smart

As global IT firms lead the way in alleviating the consequences of climate change, technology acts as their primary tool in lifting the burden on the environment. IT firms are also among the first companies setting their own rules for reducing their carbon footprint. An environmental audit is always the first step.

Sustainability is a major buzzword for the business sector today. More and more companies are thinking about how their actions affect the environment. Cleverlance is the first Czech tech firm to hold an environmental audit. “Global IT firms are leading the way and setting standards in this arena. Tech firms in the Czech Republic have not been as active in this regard as one might expect,” commented Petr Žákovec, an expert in corporate sustainability who supports companies transitioning to sustainable business models.

Cleverlance held a carbon audit in compliance with ISO 14064. Audits are essentially a means of measuring how much carbon emissions a company produces. The good thing, according to Žákovec, is that companies can measure and track their emissions over time as well as assessing the impact of any measures taken. This is a strong argument for companies that take a more pragmatic approach as well. “We see that the world is changing. Acting responsibly and trying to reduce your carbon emissions now play a greater role in awarding contracts,” explains Žákovec. These days it is not unusual for large corporations to give climate responsibility about 20% of the weight in these decisions, making it a clear competitive advantage. “Corporations are sending signals to the market and their suppliers that this is an important topic not only for society as a whole, but for business as well,” he adds. Another reason for pragmatic firms to get on board involves rising costs, often leading companies to switch to electromobility. In other words, sustainability is a way to cut costs.

Sustainability is important in all areas of society, which applies in this country as well. Polling by the STEM Institute (a private Czech sociological research organization) indicated that 84% of the Czech public agrees that human-caused climate change poses a threat to our future. Nine out of 10 agree that without reducing emissions we will not be able to protect against drought and forest death. Thus it can hardly be argued that we are a nation of climate skeptics. When a company decides to take steps to reduce its carbon emissions, it sends its employees, clients and society in general a message that this company is thinking about the impact its business has on the world. This company wants to listen to its people and, to a certain extent, even have a positive influence on the undecided by investing in worthwhile projects to help improve the environment. “Whatever companies choose to do, it should always be believable and fit in with their corporate culture. It should fit with the kind of people at that company,” recommends Žákovec. It always pays off to first find out what people at the company prefer. “Start getting a feel for people’s mood and expectations. Always try to build support from within,” he continues.

A program that helps reduce emissions production beyond the level achieved by active measures. Usually involves external compensation for emissions, often through a special offset project such as reforestation – in cooperation with governmental and other public authorities to choose a suitable location. Another option is investing in technologies from companies that absorb emissions directly.

Research conducted by STEM/MARK for Cleverlance in 2021 indicates:

32.9% of respondents feel that the company they work for is reducing the impact its business has on the environment

79.1% of respondents consider recycling waste to be the most important aspect of reducing a company’s impact on the environment, while 73.1% consider reducing energy and water consumption to be most important

65.7% of respondents consider reducing exhaust and waste products in manufacturing to be important

24.6%

of respondents were interested in reducing their company’s impact on the environment as a benefit

Typically the first step towards reducing emissions involves choosing an electricity provider that will guarantee the origin of its electricity. “This is of course an interesting phenomenon, because everybody can do it, yet there is not enough energy with guaranteed origin available on the market today, and so energy companies find themselves with a whole new segment of the market,” Žákovec comments, pointing out how efforts to minimize carbon footprints can transform an entire industry in a major (and positive) way.

The next step is finding ways to save energy. “Companies based in older buildings should focus on energy efficiency, primarily building insulation and energy-saving technologies.” IT companies have an advantage here, as they usually have their offices in newer buildings with good energy parameters. “That is the case for Cleverlance as well. Its offices in Prague and Brno have excellent energy parameters,” says Žákovec. In non-manufacturing firms the biggest contributor to a company’s carbon footprint is transport and commuting to and from work. “That’s what companies need to focus on. Does every employee have to be in the office every day? The pandemic has shown us that they do not.” Working from home is the new normal; a benefit is becoming standard practice. What’s more, every day spent working from home can reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Low-emission vehicles can represent a compromise solution if employees do need to travel to work. Electric or hybrid cars, public transport, or even bicycles. “Electromobility is a big topic, of course. We don’t have many positive examples in the Czech Republic. The media tends to show us catastrophic scenarios about how it will be impossible to charge all the cars. In my opinion it’s best for a company to try it out. It’s not the right solution for every company, but it tells a story of searching for effective ways to reduce emissions,” advises Žákovec. “I was pleasantly surprised to see how much support there is at Cleverlance and how many people ride to work on their bikes,” he continues. “That is a valuable example of what we are trying to achieve in companies. Cycling to work is an excellent way to minimize emissions, and it is also great exercise.”

Whatever measures it takes, no company can reduce its carbon footprint to zero on its own. “Cleverlance is doing fairly well with its carbon footprint. The measures that can be taken will help reduce it by 40-50%. With what we put in place in 2019 and 2020 we have cut the carbon footprint by a third already,” says Žákovec. Companies that want to cut their emissions to zero have to “offset,” or invest in projects that contribute to reducing emissions directly or invest in renewable resources. That is the way to achieve true carbon neutrality.

Žákovec explains that it is good to look at reducing emissions from a business perspective: “Then we see that this is simply a transparent metric that shows the emissions produced and energy used in company operations. Measures taken to reduce these numbers can be seen as attempts to cut company costs. Doing that is pragmatic and responsible.”

Remote work should be looked at the same way, he claims. Companies that allow working from home are making a generous concession to their employees and reducing their carbon footprint at the same time. “These topics are related. The mood in society is shifting. We are all part of this change and it is interesting to watch all this happen at Cleverlance.”