Once you have a better understanding of your company's carbon footprint, define a strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions with interim (2030) and long-term (2050) targets in line with your industry's 1.5°C roadmap.  Now that you know which part of your business (including upstream and downstream) has the greatest impact on climate change, you can work on your reduction strategy and prioritise actions based on the level of impact and difficulty of implementation.

Benchmarking against peers can provide suggestions for realistic reduction targets to drive your company's strategy in line with the state of the art in your sector.

According to the Science-based Targets Initiative - SBTi, two conditions must be met for companies to reach a state of net-zero emissions:

1. Achieve a level of emissions reduction in the value chain that is consistent with the depth of abatement achieved in pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot
2. Neutralise the impact of any remaining sources of emissions that cannot be eliminated by permanently removing an equivalent amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

To increase the likelihood of success,

• Identify champions within your team, they will help you drive change and are critical to collecting accurate data.
• Set aside some budget, although the ROI will come later, the initial investment is critical to driving structural change.
• Allocate sufficient resources, hire experts to drive the analysis and help you identify the key challenges to be addressed, and give your internal champions time to embed the strategy.
• Make it an overall KPI, once the target is set, to fully engage your teams at all levels.

You can browse The Matcha Initiative's Carbon Reduction Strategy overview and The Matcha Initiative's carbon reductions solutions for a specific topic. Get support! For example, the Matcha Initiative Team and The Matcha Initiative Buddies can provide advice, guidance and support in implementing your sustainability strategy.

Remember, reducing your greenhouse gas emissions is not only good for the environment, it can also help you save money and improve your competitiveness.

An easy tool to use: The Net Zero Roadmap Tracking Template. (download it here in excel format)

Note: Your carbon management roadmap needs to be fully integrated into your overall business strategy, so you need to build your commitments accordingly.

You can show leadership by promoting your achievements and sharing your challenges internally and externally. A more sustainable company has a better image and attracts more talent and partners, including investors. It is also an opportunity to influence your peers and suppliers.

Share your best practices to encourage others to follow your path and become a leader and role model.

a. Internally:

Use internal newsletters, monthly meetings, town halls, events, etc. to promote your work. Your roadmap & achievements will improve the company's image to employees and create more loyalty. You will raise awareness and gain commitment from your colleagues. You may recruit more volunteers to your dedicated teams.

b. Externally:

- You can start small by adding a page to your website to share your vision and values, your carbon management roadmap, some targets or commitments.

- In the long term, it is important to share meaningful reports to regularly update all stakeholders and welcome feedback on your actions.

Beware of greenwashing: trust is very hard to regain once it has been lost. Don't embellish or lie about your carbon management journey and focus on your carbon reduction actions. Greenwashing can also be illegal in certain circumstances; refer to the Green or greenwashing? section.

To go further, companies can choose to disclose and be certified to help improve and better communicate their net-zero strategy. The certification process by an external third party is a key step in aligning with net zero goals. The company will gain insight into best practices and opportunities which can also help overcome the difficulties it faces.

You can demonstrate leadership by promoting your achievements and sharing your challenges both internally and externally. It can also help you meet tax, regulatory and supply chain requirements.

Here are some examples of disclosure / certification programmes you can start looking at:

- LowCarbonSG is a capacity-building programme to enable local companies in Singapore to start monitoring and, where possible, reducing their carbon emissions. Companies that successfully measure and monitor their carbon footprint will be awarded a LowCarbonSG Participant Logo. LowCarbonSG is led by the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) Singapore, the decarbonisation arm of the Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS), and supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG). By participating in the programme, companies can access carbon management resources such as tools, workshops or information on government grants to facilitate the adoption of sustainable solutions, receive guidance on emissions reduction and gain recognition.

- The Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) helps thousands of companies, cities, states and regions measure and manage their risks and opportunities related to climate change, water security and deforestation and, on behalf of over 590 institutional investor signatories, requests information from the world's largest companies on climate risks and low-carbon opportunities. In addition to meeting the demands of your investors and customers, reporting your environmental data through CDP enables you to protect and enhance your corporate reputation, increase your competitive advantage, uncover risks and opportunities, and track and benchmark progress. In a world where mandatory disclosure is gaining momentum, reporting through CDP also helps companies stay ahead of regulation. CDP also claims to be fully aligned with the recommendations of the TCFD.

- The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). You can also submit your carbon targets for validation to SBTi. SBTi technical experts will review your submission, validate it against their science-based criteria and communicate their decision with detailed feedback that can be used to deepen your company's carbon strategy. Published in October 2021, the SBTi Net-Zero Standard is the world's first framework for corporate net-zero goals that are consistent with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and requires the setting of both short-term (5-10 years) and long-term (to 2050 or earlier) science-based targets. They also define a specific pathway for SMEs, recognising that setting a near-term GHG reduction target for your own operations (scope 1 and 2) is the easiest target for the majority of smaller companies to achieve. A commitment that your organisation can achieve means much more than an uncertain longer-term target covering the entire value chain.