Narrowing in on net zero

Underpinning ambitious net zero strategies are the three pillars of accounting, engagement and governance. Many companies designing a strategy will employ the Carbon Management Hierarchy (CMH), a mitigation strategy prioritising direct elimination, avoidance or reduction of emissions before additional offsetting. 

Engagement with the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) needs to become a critical part of a corporate net zero strategy. Growing awareness of the VCM’s potential requires companies to consider how carbon credits can be best placed in an overall strategy. This is especially important for hard to abate emission categories due to their complexity to decarbonise.

Supported by the three pillars, a company could develop an expanded CMH model, which embeds carbon credits, to accelerate both corporate and global decarbonisation.