As organisations and local councils continue to proclaim their mission to combat climate change (68% councils have declared a climate emergency – Air Quality News), the real question many organisations should be asking themselves is: “what can we do today to effectively reduce our air pollution and be at the forefront of driving real positive change this year?”
Striving for net zero emissions and low air pollution
Many organisations are agreed on setting goals to have net zero emissions and labouring their point of their continual investments to this commitment, but few are doing enough to act on it today and make effective air pollution reductions.
As stated by The Independent in this article, the group ‘Logistics UK’ which partners with main supermarket chains Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose is adamant on delaying clean air zones and the report shows that there is a still a division on what steps each region should take to combat the climate crisis right now. What is clear is that there is a consensus and recognition of the severe health implications associated with poor air quality as it can damage every organ in the body shown by this Guardian interactive air pollution report. It’s also estimated by doctors that “40,000 premature deaths a year happen because of air pollution” (BBC report).
With this in mind, what effective steps can organisations take today to start making real positive reductions in air pollution and to becoming net-zero much sooner?
1. Monitoring and Tracking Air pollution
The first step to knowing how to reduce air pollution is to understand what and where is causing excessive air pollution. By using a platform such as EMSOL you can get visibility of the cause of air pollution, which will enable you to make insight-driven decisions enabling you a clearer understanding of your investments to date (and a measure for future investments). This can then help you to see real-time analytics and to highlight any concerns, so you have the visibility to make effective steps every day to achieve your net-zero targets.
2. Greener Solutions
It’s evident that to reduce air pollution that corporations need to implement greener solutions across their whole enterprise. From moving to renewable energy sources, upgrading company vehicles to be eco-friendlier, decreasing waste reduction and minimising traditional carbon emitting methods or tools and investing in green spaces. UK government reports have shown that reducing polluting vehicles is a quick and cost-effective way to cutting levels of toxic air in cities. By not using outdated traditional methods or old equipment, it’s shown to also dramatically reduce the rate of air pollution which shows the need for organisations to understand their issues so they can be addressed.
3. Company Culture
Corporations of all sorts should make air pollution awareness part and parcel of what they do in their company. Embrace the need to make everyday changes now by encouraging employees to make eco-friendly decisions and reducing their own carbon footprints. If you make it your mission for everyone in your organisation to be onboard from the board level, senior leadership, middle management and frontline staff, then there will be a real sense of ownership to not only think about individual actions but also to take accountability as an organisation with every decision made.
If you want to learn how EMSOL can help your organisation achieve net zero targets and reduce your air pollution, then read how our platform for taking control of air pollution works.
