Case study: One Stone Advisors
Providing sustainability strategy and communication services, over the past decade One Stone Advisors have moved corporate sustainability from the fringe of business conversations to the core of business strategy. Helping companies across sectors become more effective sustainability leaders, One Stone Advisors have been walking the talk through their climate milestone journey. Learn how they achieved their climate milestones, and what’s milestones are in their sights for the future, below.
Tell us how you got to this milestone.
Our climate approach to date has been action-driven and ad hoc but we are now moving to a more strategic, structured, long-term plan for carbon neutral and carbon positive status. Our decentralised business model was deliberately designed to be low-carbon, but emissions are still our biggest environmental impact. We've been tackling our operational Scope 1 & 2 footprint through a combination of targeted procurement and efficiency measures. Over the past 10 years, we've done all the basic things: sourcing 100% GreenPower accredited renewable energy, opting for energy-efficient appliances, installing LED lighting, minimising waste, etc. and prioritising the use of public transport/hybrid vehicle/virtual meetings, etc. Our big next step is pushing out the boundary to address Scope 3.
What were the easy wins?
Switching to 100% GreenPower was a no-brainer and eliminates most of our operational emissions. Everything after that is more marginal in terms of big-bang-for-buck impact reduction, but we're hoping to make gains now through our choice of suppliers.
What were the barriers, and how have you worked to overcome them?
Time and knowledge have been our biggest hurdles — we're really short on the first and working hard to address the second! The result has been a bit of 'analysis paralysis' which we're working to overcome, especially around where to start on Scope 3 and what a 'good' offset actually looks like. Being active in the BCCC has been really helpful to learn from others and keep up the momentum. Hopefully, we can work with other B Corps going forward to keep making progress.
What’s the next step for One Stone Advisors?
Having locked in most of the low-hanging fruit 'easy wins,' we now need to really get to grips with driving remaining reductions, engaging with our broader value chain on Scope 3, certifying and making meaningful offsets. Our upcoming B Corp recertification is a great opportunity to raise the bar.
What are your climate priorities in the next 5 years?
1. Make a plan.
2. Get certified.
3. Set a Science Based Target
4. Be climate positive.
What do you want to achieve by 2030?
Achieving climate positive status would be amazing.
Our mission is to empower others to be more effective sustainability leaders. Our biggest positive impact is through the advice and support we give our clients, but we also have to walk the talk at home.
Our journey shows that any organisation, no matter how small, can take action and show leadership on climate. It might not seem like you're making a big difference, but by doing your bit, it helps to move the world as a whole that little bit closer to 1.5C. No organisation has all the answers, but every BCCC case study is a piece of the puzzle. Together we can change the way business works.