I've said it again and I'll say it again again....

I have been thinking and without making the argument that took a 20,000+ word dissertation to prove, I have concluded:

Organisations of every size must make an irrevocable commitment to sustainability, ideally manifest in targets to reduce their CO2 emissions by setting a two year average baseline then a five year commitment to reduce this by a declared percentage and report the CO2 value of their products to its consumers (who might in turn report it to their consumer and so on ad infinitum). Reducing CO2 emissions by improving energy efficiency is generally a good strategy because energy cost savings can finance the measures needed but managers must reconsider every aspect of their operations, such as materials and transportation and the habits and practice of its customers and personnel as well, and budget for the costs of meeting these target as an overhead.

Stakeholders (like shareholders or funders and lenders) must realise that reduction of CO2 cannot be only tied to financial payback as many sources of CO2, especially those outside of energy production, offer no cost savings by switching to alternatives while changing practice, such as keeping CO2 balance sheets, still incurs costs. Emissions reduction must be a satisfactory result in itself and as all carbon emissions will eventually be taxed, this will be a financial incentive for everyone. For anyone presently under the carbon tax threshold, there is scant luxury of time but it is cheaper in the long run to change practice now instead of later as changing practice later may not be possible because the burden of rapid adjustment could be too great. There is simply no excuse that “we can’t afford it.” The planet’s bank of CO2 is everyone’s bank and we have all overdrawn from it.