Climate risk
As organizations account for the changing environment and the physical dangers of climate change, climate risk has emerged as a new environmental indicator. As the world’s reaction to climate change remains unclear, forward-looking scenario-based evaluations of transitional and physical climate risk, like those suggested by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), may assist corporations in developing risk mitigation plans across corporate asset locations, supply networks, and product life cycles.
Carbon emissions
The Paris Agreement is a historic international agreement that virtually every country signed in 2015 to combat climate change and its harmful consequences. The accord intends to cut global greenhouse gas emissions significantly by 2050 in order to keep global warming to 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The largest contributor to climate change is the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants from the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity, provide power for transportation (cars, trucks, and air travel), and heat houses and buildings. Efforts to enhance the energy efficiency, move to renewable energy, and switch from coal to methane are all viable options for lowering harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Companies are starting to take steps to cut emissions, such as switching from coal to natural gas, which is 85 percent more efficient in terms of generating electricity. Metrics and reporting will be the only dependable aspect that tells the tale of change and ensures organizations meet their target objectives as they make these migrations and cut emissions.
Energy consumption
Energy usage is the most significant element affecting environmental sustainability, and it is a direct contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful substances. As a result, every company’s energy usage is important, as are the measurements used to monitor it. Companies are starting to incorporate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power into their operations. Companies are also using several techniques to precisely measure and manage energy using a dynamic process that gives an analytical framework to monitor, analyze, and classify data.
Water usage
Because water is used on a regular basis in most businesses and institutions, it is an essential and key statistic. Water loss from leaky pipes or water distribution lines, as well as water pollution, must be evaluated in addition to water use. The “total natural capital cost of the environmental repercussions from heavy-metal and pesticide contamination, or from excess fertilizer usage creating algal blooms” is used to assess water pollution. Using goal-oriented metrics to monitor water quality, consumption, and leakage will be critical in saving water and safeguarding people’s and the environment’s health and safety.
Pollution and waste
Food waste, agricultural and animal waste, medical waste, radioactive waste, hazardous waste, industrial non-hazardous trash, building, and demolition debris, extraction and mining waste, oil and gas production waste, fossil fuel combustion waste, and other types of garbage are all included in the waste management category. Companies are starting to utilize circular frameworks as a tool to examine and monitor the entire breadth of material flows in their operations to better understand waste.