Words by Smiley Team
A progressive alliance of around 60 companies, Business Declares, drives some of the most ambitious climate action in the corporate world. Its members include major players such as Triodos Bank UK, Riverford Organics and The Body Shop.
Formed by senior leaders from the SME, B Corp and FTSE100 sectors, the not-for-profit is a significant voice in climate discussions, involving members in the UN Race to Zero team for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
[Lift your spirits with positive stories of people driving change around the world]
“We believe that business has a major part to play in tackling the climate, ecological and social emergency,” explains its director, Ben Tolhurst.
“We raise awareness across the business sector of the imperative to accelerate action to address climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice: the imperative to future-proof every business by balancing profits with people and ethics, to live within planetary boundaries,” he adds.
Through workshops, talks and sharing resources, this organisation shares vital knowledge and galvanises voices from the business community to drive regulatory change and build a resounding call for urgent political action.
To understand how businesses can join this movement and contribute, here are their four top tips.
Business Declares urges corporations to build a culture in which staff feel able to openly discuss the climate, ecological and social crises, as well as to inform and educate employees on key issues.
To share further advice on this, they offer workshops and talks for corporate events.
They believe it is vital that organisations understand their own carbon footprints. Its members offer a number of tools to help with this, including an employee survey and carbon footprint calculator.
Whilst getting to net zero is incredibly important, the organisation understands we must acknowledge the ecological and social impact of corporate activities too. On this basis, Business Declares encourages organisations to think about these areas, through events such as a recent webinar tackling offsetting.
To reach net zero, the organisation advises businesses to create plans that are transparent, auditable and publicly available. They should cover how a business will achieve net zero in a specified time frame, incorporating natural solutions, and applying these to throughout every area of operations.
Business Declares urges companies to reconsider their client base depending how much they prioritise planetary objectives over profit alone. They also offer advice on how to decarbonise company websites.
Find examples of business plans to achieve net zero here.
More advice can be found at businessdeclares.com/engage.
