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July 2007
Interview: Mark Armitage
Climate change is high on both business and political agendas. Catherine Graham of Interregna says “2006 was perhaps the first year in which businesses of all sizes recognised that there is both a financial and reputational advantage to be gained by ‘“going green’””. To learn more about green strategies, Interregna spoke to Mark Armitage, COO of the Carbon Neutral Company, which since 1997 the early 1990’s has helped companies to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions.
 A good start from big business
Mark Armitage, COO of the Carbon Neutral Company is enthusiastic about the growing contribution of UK businesses to reducing greenhouse gases: “I think that actually in the last six to nine months, the business community has taken on this issue. We’ve heard announcements from M&S and Tesco recently; but many large corporates are looking at their own internal use of energy, their international operations, and also how they can help the developing world to start off with cleaner fuel.”
Political challenges
The challenges though, are on a macro scale: “I think that for internal corporate reductions, the pathway is very clear. Companies can see their way to both reducing their emissions and also reducing their costs over the coming years. But I don’t think there’s necessarily a clear path forward for those companies that are interested in investing in R&D and new low carbon technologies. They need to see that there really is going to be a carbon marketplace going forward. We are also not sure how firm governments are going to be on carbon allowances, or even which geographies are going to come into the Kyoto framework.” Clearly political willpower across geographic boundaries is needed before the energy sector can make firm commitments to the rest of the business community.
Cross-border co-operation is a particularly thorny issue, coming at a time when the globe is riven between the developing and developed countries. Surely it’s the emerging economies are doing most to harm the planet? “That sort of comment is natural, but the problem we face has been caused over the last 150 years by countries which are now doing economically very well. It’s therefore our responsibility to solve the problem rather than placing the burden on those countries that are now trying to catch up. We have to sort out own back yard, to get new technologies up and running and in fact cross-subsidise emerging countries so that they can start off with non fossil fuel technology.”
Interims going green?
For anyone considering appointing an interim manager, travel may of course be an issue for the environmentally-conscious employer. Armitage says that the same rules apply for interims as for full-time executives: “As with any business, whether interim or full time, they should use technology instead of travel in the first instance. Web conferencing, video conferencing and mobile telephony all mean they could easily be more efficient than established employees.” Armitage adds wryly- and this will bring a lump to the throat for some- “Try changing the travel policy. We see travel behaviour change rapidly when a company changes its policy from business class to economy. Suddenly executives don’t feel it’s that attractive to fly any more, and find alternatives to non-essential meetings!”
We ask whether there are interim roles specifically for environmental consultancy. “There has been a massive growth in energy auditing, in searching out efficiencies, reducing carbon footprint and reducing costs. It’s a win-win strategy: companies are helping the planet but they’re also saving money, so yes, there’s a massive upsurge in demand from corporations for help in this particular space. But the reason this isn’t usually devolved to a specific manager or served by an interim is that it has moved up to the board. Energy efficiency isn’t something that is being driven by corporate social responsibility in some sort of niche ‘nice-to-do’ manner. It’s embedded in the corporate strategy.
If companies perform a carbon audit as a stand alone study, it just becomes a document that you put on the shelves. The impetus has to come from the top and then you will get serious impact.”
Strategic tips for implementing an environmental strategy:
Armitage offers the following advice to companies seeking to develop an environmental strategy:
- Begin with an audit: you need a baseline assessment.
- Identify the areas of real impact and quick wins: switching off lights, powering off laptops, and switching to renewable energy are easy behavioural changes with genuine benefits; conversely car pooling schemes for example tend to fall into disuse.
- After office energy usage, international travel is usually the next largest contributor to corporate energy consumption. Reduce it.
- Expect a 5-12% reduction in carbon emissions from a successful corporate reduction programme.
- Then follow through with a carbon offsetting policy to account for the remainder.
The Carbon Neutral Company can be found at www.carbonneutral.com
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