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Energy Efficiency

How to Choose the Right Energy & Sustainability Goals for Your Company

Author Jenna Bieller

Over the past decade, companies leading on reducing environmental impact have simultaneously maintained or accelerated bottom-line performance. And the data is clear: businesses with strong sustainability policies outperform their peers on conventional financial metrics.

Recent research finds that organizations have more success on energy and sustainability initiatives when they set public goals.

But why?

Firms that make public commitments:

  1. Are better able to secure funds for their sustainability projects;
  2. Have a better understanding of how sustainability projects fundamentally improve the business; and
  3. Accelerate action and decision-making.

rteported reasons why companies make sustainability commitments

The good news is that accessing these benefits by making a public commitment is getting easier. Third-party benchmarking programs are growing, giving corporations more opportunity than ever before to make a bold company statement about sustainability and/or environmental action. These commitments span a variety of sustainable activities including goals for carbon reduction, renewable energy procurement, energy efficiency, zero waste and circularity, and electric vehicles. From CDP to SBT to CE100 to SDG — the list of acronyms goes on.

But with so many options available, how do you determine which goals will drive the greatest value for your organization? And against what criteria should you assess them?

While the data shows that making a commitment helps to drive action, choosing the right one is no small task. Companies should use discretion and set targets that align with their mission and culture, drive the right results for their business, and are achievable from a budget and bandwidth perspective.

To address this need, we’ve developed a guide to energy and sustainability goals to help you evaluate which commitments are right for your company. Our new Goals Primer eBook summarizes the top global, third-party benchmarking standards and recommends how to choose the right ones to accelerate your energy and sustainability ambitions.

Explore 7 of the top energy and sustainability goals and learn about the benefits and requirements of each in our Goals Primer eBook, here.