The Environmental Challenge
In truth the consumer's purchasing decisions are the ultimate cause of carbon emissions in an economy. All carbon emissions can be attributed to the delivery of products and services to meet the needs of the consumer, i.e. the supply chain.
UK consumers, according to Carbon Trust, use products and services with a combined carbon footprint of 174.4 MtC (millions tonnes per annum). This is 11.7 MtC greater than the emissions form all UK production. This means that the UK is a net importer of carbon intensive products and services from abroad.
All products and services emissions can be classified into high-level consumer needs categories, such as Recreation and Leisure, space heating, food and catering etc; these three in particular are the three consumer needs with the highest carbon emissions. Together they account for almost half of the total UK carbon emissions; and as we move to a more carbon-constrained world, business will have to continue to meet customer needs but in a way that generates fewer carbon emission.
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"We are not tree huggers but a serious business with solutions that go beyond being seen to be green to actually making a difference for the human race and future generations"
.How Business can make a difference
The Carbon Trust conducted a study in conjunction with the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey to analyse the Carbon Footprint of certain products on the shelf across the entire supply chain.
The model used in the analysis combines emissions create throughout the supply chain to give a measure of the total emissions associated with the provision of individual products and services. Typically this includes raw materials extraction, manufacturing, distribution, retailing, consumption, disposal and recycling.
Business are best placed to manage the wider supply chain impacts associated with a more carbon constrained world and are able to make better long term investment decisions by taking into account the value of carbon and ultimately identify more radical product replacement strategies that reduce carbon emissions as well as delivering bottom line improvements to the financial bottom line.
To put this into perspective, the supply chain associated with recreation and leisure has the highest emissions at 31.6 MtC. Just under half of this is transport related. Space heating of buildings with 24.0 MtC and food and catering at 22.4 MtC. The majority of space heating emissions occur directly in the building, whereas two thirds of carbon emissions from food and catering are embodied in the products consumed.
Climate Change - the case for Action (Greg Craven) Click HERE