Carbon Management Plan

To be strategic in how you approach your carbon scorecard requires a good carbon management plan[1]. In building that plan you need to “build a culture of sustainability”. The aim is to be a business or entity that will perform better in the triple bottom line for the long-term. However well planned we should be aware that what appears plausible could be affected by black swan events (improbable happenings – left field whams – disasters). In another blog we will talk of these events in more detail.

To defend against the black swan event

It all gets down to being able to use a robust metric to reduce risk and having a communication platform that can be maintained throughout any event. It is suggested the magic metric is “The ability to scale change far beyond its own organization”, and the magic communication system is “Cloud Computing”.

Apple the model of sustainability?

The three largest IT companies building on the cloud are reported as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.  It appears Apple is winning the public perceptions of playing a big part in forming the culture of sustainability, and the company goes beyond simple assessment of supplier relationships, working conditions for employees, and environmental issues.  The work of TruCost[2] – through Bloomburg says Apple is an example of tackling a truly sustainable approach and “offers Apple room for growth”.

Back to cloud computing: This concept requires substantial energy consumption. As a model for sustainability, Apple is acknowledging that rapid expansion has been made, in the past, without adequate regard to source of electricity, and do rely heavily on black types of energy to power their clouds. TruCost reports Apple gave “a vociferous response ….., which in May announced it was approved to build a 20-megawatt solar power facility across the street from its data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The site will be powered completely by renewable sources by the end of 2012”. It would be nice to hear of a report from Microsoft and Amazon on similar aims.

Reflect the potential

If Apple is the example of how to build a culture of sustainability, then it shows a reflection of the potential to scale sustainability innovation. Why is it so difficult to encourage policy makers to encourage innovation? To CO2Land it is important to advocate for innovation, and being able to help with factual advice on how to drive change, to maintain environmental performance.

How to keep it up for your benefit: Legitimate efforts to a culture of sustainability create and defend values. You can only do that if you follow paths to authenticity, transparency and responsiveness to grow and thrive.

Footnote 1: Copyright Carbon Training International Visit www.co2ti.com

Footnote 2: Check out the body of work on Apple by Krosinsky (Senior Vice President of TruCost). Other references Visit www.bloomberg.com/sustainability.