It is often quite difficult to navigate this new green economy for businesses. Nedbank, however, is determined to make it easier. In an event that was auimed at assisting small business becoming “green”, Nedbank distributed and explained two key documents to participants. The Carbon Footprinting Guide and the Nedbank Green Living Guide were given to guests on the 27 May 2014.
The 110% Green team attended Nedbank’s “Greening Small Businesses” evening. As a part of this evening, Head of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), Mr Solly Fourie, addressed attendees on the 110% Green Programme.
Dr Marco Lotz (Sustainability Carbon Specialist, Nedbank Group) and Professor Alan Brent (Professor in the Sustainable Development Programme, Sustainability Institute, Stellenbosch University School of Public Leadership) have compiled the Nedbank “Carbon Footprinting Guide”. This guide provides comprehensive assistance to companies wishing to measure their carbon footprint. As the guide suggests, “Carbon Footprinting will become as standard as doing a company’s tax return.”
The guide was created as user-friendly since often although there is much credible information about carbon footprinting, as in the past it has been found to be inaccessible to businesses and individuals.
Carbon footprinting is important for businesses to learn to measure. Not only does it add to skills development of employees, but it will ensure that companies are a step ahead. With a possible carbon tax being implemented in South Africa, industry will need to start measuring its footprint in order to gauge its future expenses.
Much has been written about the effect the carbon tax will have on business in South Africa. According to the African Business Review, “of all 13 recognised sectors in the South African FTSE/JSE 40 Index, only five key sectors accounted for 97 percent of total emissions from the top 40 companies: Basic Resources, Oil & Gas, Food & Beverage, Industrial Goods & Services and Telecommunications. The remaining 3 percent of emissions came from eight sectors.”
Companies in these five sectors will need to heed the warning of the possibility of the carbon tax.
The other document published by Nedbank, Nedbank’s Green Living Guide, can be applied to employees’ homes and also used to green businesses through operational investment. A “cheat sheet” to calculating a green home and approved by the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), this document was also published with the Sustainability Institute.
These two documents equip small businesses with the information needed for green operational investment, as well as calculating the cost of the future carbon tax on their businesses and how to alleviate this.