Archives for December 2021

Why does JustOne exist? We are here to spark positive change with every person and business we encounter. That’s our purpose; plain and simple. So every business decision we make is put through this lens.

We believe business holds the answer to not only solving the world’s biggest problems but to realise human potential. Business has the reach, influence, structure, agility, resources, will, and longevity to achieve this where other structures and organisations, such as governments, do not. Together we can create systems that don’t create solely profit, but also wellness and prosperity for all.

We at JustOne have the opportunity to showcase what a a purpose-led company, run on empathy and creativity, that puts people and planet at the heart of everything we do, can do. We know we have the power to do this, and more importantly, to empower other businesses to do the same.

A sustainable business does not separate sustainability from the rest of the business. At JustOne we will adopt one core strategy that will address environmental, social, and economic considerations as a whole and enable us to achieve consistent progress for people, planet, and prosperity for all.

We embarked on this strategic journey earlier this year and now we want you to join us. We are overjoyed to introduce Empower 2025.

We have a collective vision: by 2025, we will be an exemplar business by continually pushing the boundaries of sustainability; empowering others to learn, transform, and thrive.

We will test any feasible idea if it will take us closer to this vision and, whether they work or not, we will communicate our progress so others can build on what we have done.

Through our robust strategy development process that we take our clients through, we identified key issues that are most important to the business, and that we have the greatest ability to impact. These are represented by four core focus areas:

Enriching Lives:

We recognise that every person is different, with unique circumstances and lived experiences. We will enrich the lives of our people by addressing the needs of each individual in a bespoke way, while nurturing an inclusive, purpose-led culture where they can thrive.

Encouraging Collaboration:

We encourage collaboration over competition by establishing relationships based on empathy, trust, and honest communication so that together we can solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

Improving Our Impact:

We are improving our impact by remaining accountable to our goals. We will report transparently on actions we’ve taken, the challenges we’ve faced, and the achievements we’ve made.

Empowering Our Changemakers:

We empower changemakers by innovating our services and how we do business, evolving as the world and companies need us to.

At the heart of Empower 2025 lies our purpose: to spark positive change. In every decision that we make and every story we tell through this strategy, our purpose will always remain to spark positive change. This way of doing business will never change. Through embedding agility into the development of our strategy, enabling freedom within the framework, we will have the ability to pivot and transform whilst staying true to our vision and purpose, whatever comes our way.

So, what’s next? In the New Year we will be setting ourselves ambitious goals for each of the sustainability issues we have identified as being important to the business. These goals will turn our sustainability ambitions into tangible actions, and together we will strive to achieve them by 2025.

We are also committed to transparently reporting on our progress for others to see and learn from. Early next year we will share more on the strategy development process we went through to get to reach this important moment. We are truly excited about the power within Empower 2025 and we hope you are too.

We know we aren’t perfect by any means, and we will face challenges as we strive to achieve our goals. But from challenges arise new opportunities and our commitment to you is to remain real by sharing both our victories and learnings with everyone. We will be unapologetically authentic because it brings happiness, promotes humility, and lets us focus on what matters most.

And we want to hear from you! We welcome the opportunity for anyone to talk and share their ideas with us. If you’ve got questions or thoughts on anything we have shared in this blog, we’d love to hear them. Please email rhea.campbell-smith@justone.uk (but please be aware you may hear back from us in early 2022 as the holidays are fast approaching!).

Rhea, Associate Consultant at JustOne, recently had a discussion with her father regarding the COP26 Climate Change Conference; answering some of the questions that he had around the event.

Do you have climate action or sustainability related questions that you want answers to? Send them in to rhea.campbell-smith@justone.uk

COP26…It feels like a while go, right?

Almost a month after COP26 finished, we’ve already seen a drop off of it mentioned in the news. We’re not linking relevant speeches that empower us anymore, and family talks have turned to Christmas, and New Year plans. But COP26 is still very, very relevant.

At the beginning of the COP26 talks, we published a post on our LinkedIn here asking for your questions and comments on the subject. At the same time, I was having discussions with my family around how ‘unexpected’ COP26 was to them, and how my retired dad felt out of the loop and uncertain about its purpose.

He had a few questions which inspired me to write this blog. I’ve tried to answer these as honestly, and with as much research as I can; and included my own personal responses and opinions to his questions below.

1. What does ‘COP26’ mean when everything is referred to is the Climate Change Conference? What’s the purpose and what are the goals?

COP26 stands for ‘26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties’. COP26 is an abbreviation, but it is a climate change conference. The purpose of the conference was to unite the world to tackle climate change, with there being four main goals. These were:

• Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
• Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
• Mobilise finance
• Work together to deliver

These goals include bringing Net Zero goals forward, supporting countries worst affected by climate change, collaborating together to raise funds to help secure a global net zero, accelerate action and finalise details from the Paris Agreement.

2. From my perspective there is nothing compelling governments to create the change that is needed. Is this a fair comment? What can be done?

In 2015, at the 21st Climate Conference, the Paris Agreement was made, and in April 2016, 175 countries signed the agreement, legally binding them to limit global warming and holding signed countries accountable to meet goals every five years. As a result, more businesses are aiming to become Net Zero in their operations, better reporting of emissions through TCFD, and more people are passionate about getting their local communities to take action. At home you could try:

• Changing your car to be electric
• Eating less meat
• Switching energy tariffs to renewable sources
• Buying produce locally
• Swapping out unnecessarily wrapped goods

More tips can be found here: The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World – United Nations Sustainable Development

3. I don’t understand ‘carbon offsetting’, it doesn’t make sense to me to pay another country to have your pollution.

Carbon offsetting is the process of investing in projects which helps to bring your carbon footprint to zero. Businesses, and countries, aiming to become Net Zero can use offsetting as a way of balancing out the carbon left over after they have reduced as much of their emissions as possible. This needs to be strictly managed to avoid greenwashing. Take a read of Rio’s blog on key considerations for due diligence.

Think of it as a cup of tea when you’re in the garden, you might drink 90% when it’s hot, and 6% when it’s cooler, but you’ve still got 4% left over in your cup that you need to get rid of. Carbon offsetting in this scenario would be you pouring the rest into a flower bed. It’s still been made, but it’s being absorbed by something else, not just tipped down the sink.

Carbon credits are a bit like offsetting, except each country has an allocated number of credits they can use. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, carbon emissions are carbon emissions. As a world total the IPCC recommends a concentration under 430 parts per million of carbon. But if you, as a country project that you will emit under your designated amount, and I as a country say ‘ I think I need a few more credits this year’, you could then sell me some of your credits.

You can’t sell more than you’re designated and so we’d still achieve the maximum permissible amount. I’d not be paying you to ‘take’ my pollution, I’m paying you for some of your permissible pollution that you’re not going to use.

4. What does net zero mean? How realistic is the 2050 goal? Is it achievable? Can businesses change by then?

Net Zero means that the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere equals the amount of greenhouse gases being absorbed out of the atmosphere. The act of going Net Zero is to first reduce your emissions, and then ensure the rest are offset to get to zero. Like I said before, this needs to be strictly managed to avoid greenwashing. Discover 10 practical steps organisations of any size or sector can take to begin or progress their net zero journey from our partners at Rio.

The 2050 goal comes from the IPCC’s research Global Warming of 1.5 ºC — (ipcc.ch) into avoiding a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees over pre industrial levels. If we can reach net zero emissions by then, we may be able to keep global temperate increase below this. I think that Net Zero is achievable, but it will mean a lot of rapid change across many sectors of industry, and by many people, in not that long of a time.

Business are changing, more and more are developing strategies, and making pledges to go Net Zero by 2050, or even sooner, like Sainsbury’s with their 2040 aim. There are people changing, and there are companies who can help them on their journeys too. Please email rhea.campbell-smith@justone.uk if you’d like to learn mroe.

5. What do you hope COP26 achieves? And beyond COP26, what is your advice to people or businesses that want to take climate action now?’

I hope that COP26 has inspired our world leaders to take action and make the necessary changes to enable people and business to reduce their carbon. Beyond COP26, I would urge businesses to create sustainability strategies and consider the impact that their business has on the environment and society, focusing on the areas that they can influence the most.

My advice to you would be similar to what I said earlier, ask your questions. Ask them to me, people in my field, and to companies who make the products you use. Use your voice to inspire positive action. If enough people are asking companies challenging and thought provoking questions then it’s more likely that they’ll respond with positive action.

Rhea is an Associate Consultant at JustOne. If you have any questions that you would like answers to please email at rhea.campbell-smith@justone.uk

Sources of interest:

• HOME – UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021 (ukcop26.org)
• The Paris Agreement | UNFCCC
• IPCC — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Carbon offsetting: reviewing the evidence – Creating a better place (blog.gov.uk)
• Home – Net Zero Climate
• The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World – United Nations Sustainable Development

Click for image source.