The leading sustainability and net zero certification group, which works with companies like Centrica and Prologis and forms part of the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign and in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), engaged with over 4,000 businesses, organizations and people during its 30-stop tour of towns and cities across the UK.
At each stop Planet Mark’s team demonstrated how businesses can set their own credible carbon reduction targets and implement plans to achieve them in line with the Race to Zero’s rigorous minimum criteria.
Hundreds of businesses also received free practical net zero advice and took part in carbon reduction workshops aimed at demystifying what organizations need to do to achieve net zero, as well as providing them with the practical tools and resources they need to play their part in taking meaningful action to halt the climate crisis and help the whole of the UK transition to net zero.
The tour began in Cornwall at the G7 in June and the bus arrived at Glasgow for COP26 on Sunday, October 31. During the tour, it became clear that whilst thousands of UK businesses and organisations want to do their part in combatting climate change, many still do not understand what net zero actually is and how they can achieve it. Planet Mark therefore calls on the government to continue to provide more clear guidance on how all organisations in the UK can begin reducing their emissions to keep warming to within 1.5 degrees.
Learnings from the tour also showed that organizations are able to decarbonize and grow at the same time. Commercial Group, who shared its carbon story during the Cheltenham stop on the tour, said that it had grown seven-fold in size since 2006, but over the same period of time it had also reduced its carbon emissions by 75%.
Steve Malkin, founder and CEO of Planet Mark, said, “It was great to meet so many businesses and organizations from around the county, to hear their carbon stories and learn the benefits small businesses can secure by reducing their emissions.
“It’s clear that businesses of all kinds – from blue chip companies to local retailers – are keen to receive training and practical, real-world advice on how to implement decarbonization strategies that will help them go net zero.
“Action must be taken now by all businesses, from the very largest to the very smallest, to support the UK’s net zero transition. COP26 puts the UK at the heart of the battle to reduce global emissions and our electric ‘carbon battle bus’ tour has provided thousands of British businesses with the practical tools and resources they need to halt the climate crisis. As a collective, we can help the entire nation move to net zero.”
Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said, “In the UK, the UN-backed Race to Zero effort is being coordinated by Kwasi Kwarteng’s BEIS department, working with Local Authorities, Planet Mark, the Institute of Directors, and others. The Government’s flagship campaign, Together for Our Planet, is also helping to raise awareness among the business community about the urgent need for firms to cut their carbon emissions.
“Race to Zero is the UN-backed, global campaign to rally leadership and support from all non - state actors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery. All members are credibly committed to the same overarching goal: halving global emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions as soon as possible, and by 2050 at the very latest. Planet Mark is one of the campaign’s 11 formal partners for businesses.”
