Your net zero plan
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Understand your business emissions
1. What causes emissions
Scope 1 and 2 emissions
As an SME in the IT and telecommunications sector, you are directly responsible for:
- direct emissions from sources that a company owns or controls (scope 1 emissions)
- indirect emissions from energy bought and consumed by the company (scope 2 emissions)
These greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions include:
- fuel for heating and transport
- vehicles you own and control
- refrigerant gases
- purchased electricity
- process emissions
The GHG Protocol (Corporate Standard) is widely used to report carbon emissions to the government, suppliers, investors and others. To comply with the GHG Protocol you must measure Scopes 1 and 2.
Scope 3 emissions
Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that occur upstream (from the supply chain) and downstream of your organisation (through customer use).
According to GOV UK research, scope 3 emissions can account for 80-95% of a company’s carbon footprint.
- purchased goods and services
- the use of sold products
- employee commuting
- business travel including accommodation
- employees working from home
- water usage
- waste
For more information on scope 3 emissions, visit:
2. Why you should take action to reduce emissions
Knowing how much carbon your business produces is an important step for managing costs and moving towards net zero.
In addition, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other large businesses are asking their suppliers to calculate their emissions and reduce them.
Many large businesses are collaborating with their suppliers to help them meet new environmental requirements in the procurement process.
Large businesses are helping suppliers to:
- prepare a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP): a document that summarises current emissions and plans for reducing these
- identify onsite energy reduction opportunities and improve GHG reporting
- balance improvements in computational power with emission reduction in new products
- sell and design lower carbon and circular products that maximise longevity through repairability, modularity and reuse
Find out about BT’s Climate Change Procurement Standard and how Vodafone manages its supply chain.
Visit how to become a ‘net-zero’ ready supplier to find out more about the procurement process and CRPs.
3. Use free tools to calculate your emissions
Collect data for a 12-month period for the main activities which release carbon emissions in your organisation.
Choose one of the free carbon calculators to help record your calculate emissions in metric tonnes per year.
This will give you an emissions baseline which serves as a foundation for understanding your current emissions.
You can use this as a reference point against which you can:
- identify where your emission hotspots
- measure changes in your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions going forward
Visit Measure your carbon emissions to find out more about what data is required and how to get started.
As a final step, you could also consider hiring a sustainability consultant.
4. Sign up for the SME Climate Commitment
Make a public commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 or earlier.
You can sign up to the SME Climate Commitment.
To align with the SME Climate Commitment, enterprises will need to do their utmost to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% before 2030, using 2019 or later as the base year.
This means that Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions must be cut in half by 2030 at the latest. Businesses should also aim to halve their most material Scope 3 emissions by 2030.
You can publish your commitment on your website and in reports to:
- let your stakeholders know your targets
- show customers you are committed to reducing emissions
Get financial support in your region
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These support schemes and networks are available in Yorkshire and the Humber:
- Business support sustainability Free advice, consultancy and grant funding to help SMEs achieve net zero and prepare for the impacts of climate change. SMEs of up to 100 employees in West Yorkshire (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield) are eligible for this support.
- Green Port Hull gives SMEs a minimum of £10,000 to businesses in the low carbon and renewable sectors – must be located in Hull or the East Riding of Yorkshire.
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in North Yorkshire – North Yorkshire has been allocated £16.9million to spend on programmes and projects through UK Shared Prosperity Fund as well as £5.4million from Rural England Prosperity Fund.
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in South Yorkshire – If your business is based in Sheffield, contact Sheffield City Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund Low Carbon Project. If your business is based in Barnsley, contact Enterprising Barnsley. If you are based in Doncaster, contact Business Doncaster (phone: 01302 735555 email: info@businessdoncaster.com). If your business is based in Rotherham, contact Rotherham Investment and Development Office (phone: 01709 331111 email: info@rotherham.gov.uk).
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Take action right now
This quick wins section identifies actions you can take right now to reduce your carbon emissions.
1. Change your lighting
Lighting consumes 20% of all energy generated in the UK and is a major cost for SMEs in office spaces. Change to LED bulbs to significantly reduce your energy use.
Find out more about how you can save on lighting.
2. Change your energy tariff
Switch to a green energy tariff with your energy supplier. This will reduce your reliance on energy produced by fossil fuels.
3. Save energy and money on heating
Heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems are the largest source of energy use for commercial and industrial buildings.
Quick, low-cost actions include:
- putting your thermostat on a timer
- sealing your windows for extra insulation
- installing smart meters to see and control how much energy you use
Find out more about how your simple changes to your HVAC system can increase efficiency and reduce costs.
4. Review your refrigeration system
Install fixed point refrigerant leak detection systems to minimise fugitive emissions. Use low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and passive cooling.
Find out more about how to improve process cooling and refrigeration.
5. Decide if you need an energy strategy
Walk around your buildings to see if energy is being used efficiently
- look at lighting, machinery, heating, refrigeration systems and ventilation
- identify wasteful energy use and maintenance issues
- check at different times of day and compare day and night time use
- monitor over a period of a week for accurate average figures
- make sure equipment is checked and cleaned regularly to ensure maximum efficiency
Depending on the size of your business, you might need to implement an energy management strategy. An energy manager will help you:
- measure and monitor energy use.
- target ways to use energy as efficiently as possible
Find out more about developing an energy strategy from the Carbon Trust.
6. Train your team
You can train your team to be aware of energy efficiency in the workplace. Simple actions such as turning off and unplugging devices when they’re not being used can make a difference.
You could assign your energy management programme to a particular job role or working group, depending on the size of your business. This helps make energy savings a business priority and ensures long-term action despite staff turnover.
Find a sustainability training course to help you train your team.
7. Switch employees’ travel habits
You could introduce a cycle-to-work initiative or encourage them to take public transport if you have employees. It also makes sense to offer work from home where possible.
Find out more about how to switch your employees’ modes of transport.
8. Manage your waste
Prevent waste from being taken to landfill sites where it takes longer to break down and causes more emissions.
Follow the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) and reuse, recycle and dispose of outdated equipment and devices to prevent e-waste and associated emissions.
Find out more about your waste-related obligations and how to manage your waste.
Take longer term action
1. Make energy efficiency improvements to your workplace
You can make longer-term savings on energy bills by:
- insulating your workplace and replacing old windows
- changing from gas-fired heating to a ground or air-source heat pump
- implementing energy efficient heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems
Check planning permission guidelines before you go ahead with any structural changes to the property.
You can download a free copy of DESNZ’s sponsored BS ISO 50005 energy management standard via the British Standards Institute website.
The standard provides SMEs with a means to develop a practical, low cost-approach to energy management to reduce their energy consumption, energy bills and carbon footprint.
2. Transition to electric vehicles
Over a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions are caused by transport.
You can reduce emissions if you use a work vehicle by switching to electric vehicles. You would be exempt from road tax, congestion charges and parking fees in certain areas.
For easy overnight charging you could install EV chargers at your home or workplace.
Visit our page to find out more about installing chargepoints.
3. Install renewable energy
You might consider installing renewable sources of energy if you are the legal owner of your property.
You can install:
- solar panels
- a wind turbine for electricity
- an air or ground-source heat pump
With on-site generation and storage, you could make significant long-term savings on energy bills.
4. Choose cloud computing and improve your systems
Cloud computing services consume considerable energy. Choose your cloud computing on the basis of their commitment to sustainability.
Take a close look at your operations to see if you can:
- design software in a way that minimises the energy needed to run it
- limit data movement
- improve idle efficiency
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Make changes in your supply chain
To reduce indirect or ‘supply chain’ emissions you need to consider what happens before and after your business provides a service or makes a product.
1. Choose greener suppliers and products (upstream)
You can reduce your upstream emissions by:
- using sustainability-conscious suppliers who actively measure and disclose their emissions
- including energy efficiency in your procurement considerations
- buying products that take less energy to make, transport and operate
- helping your suppliers with their carbon reduction plans
You can ask your suppliers:
- about lower carbon alternatives for their products
- to sign up to the SME Climate Commitment
Tell your suppliers to visit how to become a ‘net-zero’ ready supplier to find out more about the steps they can take to implement an effective carbon reduction strategy.
2. Reduce impacts from the use and disposal of your products and services (downstream)
You can reduce your downstream emissions by:
- making products that take less energy to make, transport and operate
- reducing water consumption and waste disposal needs
- making investments in lower carbon financial products
- giving incentives for lower emission activities in leased assets or franchises
Track and share your progress
You will need to regularly monitor and report your emissions data against your established baseline.
As part of the SME Climate Commitment, the SME Reporting Tool helps small businesses create annual sustainability reports and track their reduction efforts.
You should make your report publicly available to show what your company is doing to meet its targets and the impact of your initiatives on your company’s emissions.
You can integrate reported data into annual business reports, your website, or directly distribute to customers and funders.
Find out more about how to track and share your progress.
Get further help and advice on reducing emissions for the food and drink sector
The Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF) is the primary advisory group to the UK Government on digital connectivity. DCF has published Net Zero guidance for SMEs in the telecoms sector (PDF).
DCF’s guidance recognises the important role SMEs will play in achieving the UK’s net zero goal. It includes easy to follow guides on how to calculate carbon footprint and set a credible carbon reduction goal.
In 2020, the GSMA and Carbon Trust published GSMA’s Achieving Climate Targets Guide which explains step-by-step how to align carbon targets with the new ICT sector pathway to net zero.
Visit the Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD) to find out their SME questionnaire and reporting guidance (PDF).
To find out more on how to engage with your suppliers, visit: