Carbon maturity reflects how advanced your company is in measuring, tracking and reducing its carbon footprint. It indicates how well carbon management is integrated into your business strategy and operations.
Companies with high carbon maturity set clear reduction targets, track emissions across the entire supply chain and implement strategic actions to drive meaningful change. If you’re at the beginning of this journey, you may still be in the early stages of measuring emissions.
While the specifics of what to measure and how will vary for each business, the key is to start small. By gradually building momentum over time, you can transform the complexity of carbon management into a strategic asset – driving meaningful emissions reductions while strengthening your competitive edge.
Below we outline what your company’s carbon maturity journey can look like with CarbonQuota’s guidance at every step of the way.
Step 1: Laying the foundation – Start small, win big
The first step in carbon management is often to understand how much carbon your company directly produces. This comes from the energy you use, such as fuel for company vehicles and electricity to power offices or factories.
At this stage, you may also begin exploring emissions from activities that typically happen outside your buildings. These can be harder to track, but starting with areas like business travel and employee commuting can offer quick wins, helping you take immediate action and build confidence in carbon reporting.
Step 2: Taking control – Seeing the bigger picture
Once you have established a solid foundation, it’s time to broaden the scope of measurement. Examining the carbon emissions from all areas of your business will provide a comprehensive view of your overall impact. This process helps to pinpoint the major hotspots and reveals where deeper analysis is needed, allowing you to address the areas where the most impactful interventions can be made.
This stage may also provide an opportunity to conduct Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) or Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), shifting the focus from your operations to your products – or even your services! These assessments can help you deliver invoice-level carbon footprints to your clients or support with eco-design efforts, making your products and services less carbon-intensive.
Step 3: Influencing the supply chain – Power in numbers
A company’s supply chain can hold up to 90% of its emissions, meaning your carbon footprint extends far beyond your own doors. Influencing your suppliers is not only key to achieving significant reductions but also serves as a catalyst for sustainability initiatives.
Mapping the supply chain all the way down to raw materials enables businesses to identify the origins of their emissions. Legislation like the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) already mandates this, with more legislation following rapidly. Engaging suppliers to collect primary data (such as specific energy usage for a particular machine used in manufacturing) is essential for increasing transparency and traceability. This collaboration allows your company to work with its suppliers to become more carbon-conscious, creating a ripple effect that impacts not only your company but the entire industry.
Step 4: Driving carbon reduction – Making lasting impact
Carbon reduction is not just about measurement, it is about transformation. To embed sustainability into your long-term business strategy, you must turn emissions tracking into decisive action. This involves creating a comprehensive carbon reduction plan with clear goals and accountability. A plan like this can be used to support submissions to reporting frameworks like the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) or the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), ensuring consistent alignment with global Net-Zero commitments. These steps transform ambition into measurable progress, positioning your company as a leader in sustainability.
CarbonQuota: Your partner in carbon reduction
At CarbonQuota, our mission is to empower your business and your supply chain to take positive action for the planet. As your trusted partner, we offer the perfect blend of technology, expertise and strategic vision to guide you through your carbon reduction journey – tailored to your unique priorities and goals.
Sustainability doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Reach out today to turn carbon reduction into a powerful driver of success, innovation and industry leadership.
