scte long read
courses equip companies with the understanding of their supply chain, the correct terminology and the wherewithal to create legitimate sustainability practices without being accused of greenwashing.
And then?
Greenwashing The trouble with industry-wide priorities is they are ripe for exploitation. While those hapless data centre engineers struggled to market themselves a few years ago, savvy opportunists across the sector have since identified a sweet spot to make their companies shine, with a brand-new word too: greenwashing. While there certainly are companies diligently carrying out their commitments with integrity, there are lots who aren’t. The complexities of measuring net zero, confusing and evolving terminology and the lack of checks and balances have left the landscape vulnerable to inaccurate proclamations about green credentials, and until now companies have been getting away with it. “In practice nobody’s got time for sustainability - and you can quote me on that if you want.” Dom Robinson pulls no punches. The founder of Greening of Streaming, a UK-based, non-profit organisation that seeks to develop that joined up thinking in the streaming industry via an impressive membership of blue-chip companies and working groups, tempers his passionate optimism with healthy cynicism. “Sustainability is something that the CEO says, ‘Oh yes, we do it.’ But actually, when you dig deep, there’s really an owner and that owner is more than less copy-and-pasting some calculator nonsense out of some third-party documentation.” He went on, “The actual amount of ‘doing’ in corporations is almost entirely about moving things off their accounts. And yes, I’m talking about the industry- wide picture.” Robinson works closely with Anthony Daly and James Dove of ClimateEQ, a small consultancy offering sustainability training courses to the media industry. Anthony and James recognised that ignorance and confusion were a large part of why that CEO thinks he’s ‘doing sustainability’, when he’s actually doing nothing of the sort. They feel that fear of getting it wrong is part of the issue, fear of expense is an element and as Dom points out, nobody has the time to get into the weeds of offsetting net zero targets and what’s happening to their products further down the supply chain.
“Scope 3 is everything else in your supply chain. Carbon neutrality allowed you to just measure your Scopes 1 and 2 and then offset a little bit of your Scope 3, traditionally business travel, something easy to measure. That meant that companies could say, “Hey, look at us, we’re carbon neutral, or we’re climate positive.” But actually they’ve made no reductions in their actual emissions in a Scope 3. Anthony explained that 98% of emissions come from Scope 3, and most businesses that make or sell something. “Net Zero is there to say you have to measure ALL of your scopes and reduce ALL of those scopes, and it’s 50% by 2030 and it’s 90% by 2050. You’ll also hear other terms like true zero, absolute zero. True zero is like getting to zero emissions.” He went on, “If you can achieve Net Zero, amazing, we don’t believe anybody will. It’s about following a process and a framework to try to get to Net Zero. And that’s the important distinction.” Susanna Kass doesn’t agree with this. She points to the past as an indication of future developments. “Striving to reach an ambitious goal such as Absolute Zero is measured by actual progress. Results that have impact will open minds. What I was told decades ago when I started advocating Sustainable Development Goals to the Data Centre sector had similar echoes; the rest is history now, as each hyperscaler has embraced Carbon Neutrality (and Negative) Goals in its Corporate Imperative. Absolute Zero is NOT impossible; it is imperative to promote equity and humanity as we continue to innovate in the Digital Envoy.” History is a great teacher after all. Change can start small; it needn’t be an overwhelming task, Anthony says. “We say, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If you can’t get every bit of exact data, don’t worry about it. Get what you can and start to measure it and fill in the gaps later. The other thing is, take your top 10 suppliers; if they’re 70 to 80% of your emissions, focus on them first.” “Focus on the quick wins. Get to the granular a bit later, but don’t use averages, don’t use all of the software that’s out there that just takes your spend and purchase data. That’s all greenwashing. Get into the measurement bit and you’ll find efficiency.”
Then there is The Flint, an online information hub passionate about
sustainability, set up in 2022 by industry veterans Neil Howman, formerly of 202 Communications and Neal Romanek, who felt spurred into action by what they saw as inaction, duplication, poor organisation and the siloed nature of our industry. Their mission is to spread accurate information in a fast, efficient way, since “the environmental crisis is worse than you think it is. Even the gloomiest of scientists are shocked at how much earlier certain phenomena are occurring than models had predicted. It’s all hands on deck now.” Legislation, at last Greening of Streaming, ClimateEQ and The Flint are doing a noble, difficult and important job, often working together to achieve their goals, (and we will be featuring all three organisations, among others, in our upcoming Spring Lecture in March 2025, as their work needs amplifying and you will all benefit). In January the EU passed legislation that states that “Generic environmental claims and other misleading product information will be outlawed” this will become law across the 24 members states within the next 24 months. In 2021 there was nothing like this on the horizon (the Paris Accord didn’t even mention data centres, it was so dated) so this is progress indeed. The UK is likely to mirror this legislation. As for the US, much of what happens next depends on who enters the White House next year. The chest-beating we are familiar with in the media will become a thing of the past unless companies are willing to pay substantial and incremental fines over the coming years and withstand serious damage to their reputations. Dana Haidan agreed. “It’s going to be tougher for companies to greenwash, and if they do, they’ll face huge risks – reputationally, financially, and even regulatory.” Legislation is a good start and a deterrent to greenwashing. The opportunity to train your organisation is out there now. Knowing where to start is difficult. Anthony Daly helped explain. “It’s broken down into Scopes 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 2 are pretty much energy, heat, cooling, things like that.”
There is a fine line between ignorance, says James, and avoidance. Their
May 2024 Volume 46 No.2
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