Friends of Carbon Copy: Planet Mark

We are delighted to have the support of Planet Mark as Carbon Copy shares the same belief that all of us must work together – councils, communities and companies – to halt the climate crisis and embrace sustainability.

As local councils and cities set ambitious climate targets, for instance targeting to achieve net zero by 2030, companies who do not take meaningful action are facing increasingly rapid changes in public opinion, pressure from stakeholders, legislative requirements and environmental shifts that will make change inevitable.

While forty-five percent of FTSE 100 companies have committed to achieving net zero by 2050 or sooner, only sixteen percent have a plan on how they will achieve it (source:  Ecoact, 2020). Other FTSE companies require support to address their knowledge gap and roll out credible action plans.

At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent ninety-nine percent all UK limited companies and contribute more than half of the revenue in our economy. The impact that SMEs can have is huge through both their own direct impact but also the way that they can inspire other organisations of a similar size and within their industry to get started on their own net zero goals.

This is where Planet Mark steps in, helping forward-thinking businesses of all sizes in their sustainability goals and certifying their achievements. The certification that these companies earn is a mark of the positive change they are driving through their actions, people and reach.

On average, these certified businesses make a twelve percent cut in absolute carbon emissions per year and a sixteen percent carbon saving per employee per year through reductions in energy, waste, water, travel and procurement. It’s an ongoing process that’s clearly working: ninety-nine percent of participants achieve their targets in order to renew their certification year-on-year.

This is the Decade of Action and earlier this month Planet Mark went one step further, embarking on the second leg of its Zero Carbon Tour across the UK. The purpose of this ambitious tour is to radically increase knowledge around net-zero to significantly reduce carbon. Their far-reaching tour of different places highlights how local organisations can set their own credible net-zero carbon targets and implement plans to achieve them. Along the way, Planet Mark are gathering people’s carbon stories to share on Carbon Copy – so that together we can inspire more organisations to take similar action.