What are the benefits of using the Carbon Management Principles?

The Carbon Management Principles (the Principles) set out actions that provide the basis for a robust carbon management strategy when applied in order. The Principles prompt you to assess your strategy and respond to new opportunities and technologies as they occur. Considering the options in order will drive best environmental outcomes, and best business value.

The Principles can help companies optimise actions, irrespective of whether the goal is modest emissions reductions or achieving carbon neutrality.

The Principles can assist in developing carbon management strategies that provide a range of environmental, financial and social benefits to businesses and the community and provide a framework to maximise where these benefits coincide.

The Principles can be used to drive improved business value by:

Reducing input costs:

• Avoiding or minimising energy use (and the associated GHG emissions) can reduce business costs. In addition, some processes that capture and store GHG emissions are resource intensive and incur costs in themselves.
• Focusing on process efficiency can drive materials, water and energy efficiency, save money and drive internal business improvements.

Building reputation:

• Caring for the environment by reducing emissions.
• Demonstrating a low carbon footprint and reduced associated environmental impacts.
• Ensuring GHG emissions are reduced in a sustainable way (e.g. credibility of your carbon management strategy can be enhanced by utilising a robust approach to reducing GHG emissions).
• Taking direct responsibility for reducing GHG emissions where practicable, rather than outsourcing this through offsetting schemes (acknowledging that some offsetting is likely to be part of any carbon neutral strategy).
• Reducing non-greenhouse environmental impacts (e.g. reducing fuel use can reduce emissions of other air pollutants).

Improving market opportunity:

• Building capacity to succeed in a low carbon economy, (e.g. business positioning as a carbon credit provider in a trading market will provide new business opportunities).
• Increasing market share and customer loyalty by reducing life-cycle GHG impacts of products and in particular GHG emissions during the use of products.

Reducing business risk:

• Reducing exposure to increasing energy costs, possible future carbon prices, and future regulation.
• Maximising the permanence of GHG abatement measures (e.g. avoiding generation of GHGs results is a permanent outcome, whereas sequestration options require careful management to avoid subsequent release to the atmosphere).
• Reducing risk and uncertainty associated with off-site carbon management (e.g. could the failure of a company providing carbon offsets impact on the carbon management strategy) by focusing on onsite reductions first.

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