One milestone achieved: we have just received confirmation that our near-term target has been validated by the SBTi. The science-based climate targets are based on the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Netprofile is the first Finnish communications agency to commit to science-based targets. This is a testament to our commitment to our goals, and we want to encourage our industry peers to follow suit.
What does the commitment mean?
We are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in line with science-based targets and the Paris Agreement. This means reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the level seen in 2022 by at least 42 per cent by the year 2030. In line with our SBTi commitment, we also commit to calculate and reduce our Scope 3 emissions.
Our starting point as a company is, in many ways, reasonably fair, as we do not manufacture physical products. Additionally, our office is located in a building already powered by green electricity. Our heating comes from Helen, and admittedly, their ambitious emissions reduction targets are significant in terms of our commitment to reduce our Scope 2 emissions.
However, committing to emission reductions means changes for us, too. Although there are not many work-related flights, emissions from air travel make up the lion's share of our Scope 3 footprint and are also the largest single source of emissions in our overall carbon footprint in 2022 (65 %).
The next biggest is the emissions and heating of our leased cars. We prefer to work remotely with international customers and partners, so any and all travel for work-related reasons is a well-thought-out decision. However, in the future, we will need to think even more carefully about, for example, when and how we travel, which service providers we choose, and how we can offset the carbon footprint of necessary work-related travel.
We are now committed to emission reductions in the near future. The next step is to think about how and when we will reach net zero – by 2050 at the latest.
Learning together means listening and discussing
For a small company, multi-dimensional sustainability work is challenging in its own way. Even though there is less to consider than in a large company, the attention and discipline required for the work split between sustainability matters and the work we're in business for – consulting. Admittedly, the first steps of our sustainability work have been bumpier than we would have liked. And none of us, at least not yet, is a seasoned sustainability professional familiar with every twist and turn. We learn as we go along. The most important thing is to take the first steps – even if they are slow or sometimes in the wrong direction.
In addition to our sustainability work and carbon footprint calculations, we have used our time together to learn and build our sustainability skills during Netprofile personnel days, our internal skills development academies and our Grow projects focused on individual professional development. Over the past year, we have absorbed knowledge and understanding of the many dimensions of sustainability. In the academies, which are organized for all of us working at Netprofile, we have learned, for example, about corporate responsibility and greenwashing from Kirsi Salonen of Eetti ry, rainbow communication and unconscious bias from Hannu Medina, and greener ICT and the latest developments in the Green ICT project from Antti Sipilä of Tieke.
In our company book club, we have been reading about greenwashing and what happens in a society that forgets diversity.
First steps forward
Later this year, we will add a sustainability section to our website, explaining the principles and objectives of all our sustainability work and reporting our carbon footprint for 2022 in more detail.
The tech industry has traditionally thought that digitalization and technology will play a major role in a low-carbon future. However, this is only part of the truth. Much work must be done to reduce our carbon footprint, promote diversity, and halt biodiversity loss and overconsumption.
The more we learn, the more informed we become about how and where our work contributes to and promotes sustainability. We will also be better able to set sustainability targets and encourage our customers and our industry as a whole to do business more sustainably. On a global scale, sustainability manifests as part of everyone's daily life. At an individual level, it means well-being, decent work, and a diverse natural environment for future generations.
What is SBT? Science Based Targets is a joint initiative between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the UN Global Impact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Want to know more? Let's schedule a chat!