The team at Advance Careers are excited to announce we just received our Carbon Neutral Certification!
As experts in energy recruitment, we know it’s a priority for our candidates to work with sustainable, and environmentally conscious employers, where they can make a positive impact.
So what does Carbon Neutral mean for businesses, and what’s involved in getting certified?
The impact of CO2 emissions
Human activity is triggering an excessive amount of greenhouse gases entering our planet’s atmosphere, increasing global temperatures. The Climate Council are particularly concerned about carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. CO2 has increased by more than 45 per cent since the Industrial Revolution, and are the highest levels in 800,000 years.
The energy we use at home and in the office contributes to an increase in greenhouse gases. According to the Climate Council electricity is responsible for 32 per cent of greenhouse emissions because 84 per cent of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, 62.3 per cent of which comes from the burning of coal. But there’s a number of things we can do to change that.
Understanding “Carbon Neutral”
In the process of becoming “Carbon Neutral,” we’ve reviewed our business activities and made changes to reduce our carbon emissions. We’ve taken action to offset the remaining CO2 emissions by contributing to biodiverse forest programs. Resulting in the net amount of our CO2 emissions in the atmosphere to zero.
How to get Certified
We became Carbon Neutral through a verified process which included four key steps:
1. Measuring our Climate Impact
We used carbonneutral.com.au Carbon Calculator to estimate our carbon footprint. This included evaluating our consumption of electricity, gas, waste, water, paper, vehicles, travel, events and food and drink.
2. Verification
We engaged Viridi Global an established global sustainability advisory firm, to review and verify our calculations and results. The team at Viridi Global is made up of senior sustainability and climate change professionals with extensive experience in the big four Consultancies, and were able to provide a thorough assessment.
3. Reducing our CO2 emissions
We made changes to our business to reduce our carbon footprint. Some of these included:
- Moving to a paperless office.
- Using Public Transport rather than driving into work.
- Cutting back on air travel, and using virtual meetings where possible.
- Walking instead of driving – cutting back on the short car trips around the corner (with the added benefit of increased fitness levels – we’re now averaging 15,000 steps per day!).
4. Offsetting CO2
The Carbon Neutral site provides a range of global carbon offset projects to get involved in. We invested in an Australian focused project “Biodiverse reforestation Carbon Offsets – Australia,” estimated to reduce 967,695 tonnes of CO2-e over 50 years.
Purchasing offsets in this program restores a fragile ecosystem through a revegetation program, planting species indigenous to the Yarra Yarra region, encouraging the reintroduction of endangered species, and combating desertification in a biodiverse hotspot.
Attracting Candidates to Sustainable Businesses
In a recent survey, 74% of candidates said they’re looking to join businesses that are actively focused on sustainability. Candidates are attracted to employers with social responsibility, environmental, and community programs, where they can make a difference to the planet and their community.
Making an impact
Becoming Carbon Neutral as a business is a key step in becoming a sustainable employer, reducing your carbon footprint, and impacting climate change in a positive way.
Contact us to find out more about how you can become build a sustainability-focused Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and attract great candidates in energy.
