Climate change has been identified as one of the greatest challenges facing the world and many organisations are starting their journey to Net Zero Emissions in order to play their part in meeting the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
However, it’s a complicated challenge for an individual organisation – it can often be difficult to understand what standards they should be using, assess where they currently are, clarify where they want to get to and identify how they can achieve this with a clear and costed Net Zero delivery plan.
At City Science, we have developed the Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework to change that and offer all businesses and organisations, regardless of their size and budget, a road map to Net Zero. It will also ensure the principles of carbon accounting are understood so that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are considered appropriately in all future decisions.
What is our Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework?
Developed by our award-winning technical and carbon accounting teams, the City Science Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework is designed to help organisations define, implement and embed ambitious but practical pathways to Net Zero.
It is based on the ISO 14060 family of standards, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GGP) and the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP).
The approach has been developed through extensive experience working across the disciplines of Corporate Strategy, Accountancy, Finance, Energy Management and Audit.
What are the benefits of the Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework?
The TCM framework aims to equip organisations with everything they need to carve out a realistic, widely supported and well-evidenced pathway to Net Zero. Specific benefits have shown to be:
- Enhanced transparency and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) disclosures
- Improved understanding of the “organisation as a system”
- Detailed insights leading to improved prioritisation and clear action plans
- Improved carbon monitoring and ongoing management
- Upgraded systems and processes leading to lower operating costs
- Strengthened corporate decision-making
- Compliance with internationally-recognised standards of measurement and reporting
How does it work – the three TCM stages
The Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework comprises three clear stages:
- Total Carbon Analysis (TCA)
- Net Zero Delivery Plan
- Net Zero Organisation
1) Total Carbon Analysis (TCA)
First, we work with you to develop a detailed baseline assessment of total organisational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their sources. This information is critical to helping identify the key drivers and indirect sources of carbon that may not be fully visible to the organisation. The output of this stage is a detailed Total Carbon Analysis (TCA) report, mapping GHG emissions by category, facility and department.
2) Net Zero Delivery Plan
Once the baseline has been established, we work with you to prioritise actions to address direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions generated by your organisation. Using a multi-criteria prioritisation approach, we’ll help you minimise transitional costs, while bringing forward operational savings to deliver benefits as early as possible. Our expert team can also work with you to manage programmes of work to deliver change.
3) Net Zero Organisation
Finally, we work with you to embed the processes necessary to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are considered in all future decision-making within your organisation.
Our process in more detail
While the three stages of the overall framework are set out above, the diagram below gives a more detailed breakdown of the process we undertake, up to and including the development of an Initial Net Zero Action Plan.
The Initial Net Zero Action Plan covers the priority drivers of emissions identified through Stage 1, the Total Carbon Analysis (TCA) and focuses on the opportunities with the highest immediate pay-back and ROI. We set this out at a high level, indicating the additional work required to further develop business cases for each opportunity as appropriate.
Why City Science is uniquely qualified to deliver this
One of the reasons there has been frustratingly slow progress getting organisations committed to Net Zero is the lack of suitable tools. This, in turn, is because it requires an unusual skill set to put together something as simultaneously robust and practical as the Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework.
At City Science we are uniquely placed to do this. Our team combines leading scientists and engineers with highly-experienced corporate accountants – our CEO, Laurence Oakes-Ash is, for example, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. And when it comes to carbon accounting, we are leading the way (see below). We also have in-depth expertise of international standards such as ISO 14060 and their implications.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, our mission is to help make decarbonisation quicker and easier for all – to democratise it. That means using all the data, expertise and tools available to offer affordable and practical approaches that can be adopted by as many organisations as possible.
Interested in learning more about our Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework?
We’re very excited about the Total Carbon Management (TCM) framework and if you are part of an organisation – public or private sector – that is committed to decarbonisation but isn’t sure exactly how to go about it, we’d love to help.
Please get in touch via our email.