Case study: People with Purpose
People with Purpose is a purpose-led consulting company that specialises in equipping businesses and leaders to become more resilient and impactful. They do this by helping them develop purpose-led strategies and purposeful leadership. Based in Taringa, Queensland, this small business created a climate action plan and is on the way to becoming carbon neutral. Read the case study below to learn from their experience and get inspired to progress your own climate journey.
Tell us how you got to this milestone.
“We declared a Climate Emergency through a B Corp campaign. From there, with the support of two interns, we identified how our business produces Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. We were then able to use government and other online resources to find the relevant calculations and apply them to our business operations. We calculated our carbon emissions totals for our base year (2020-21). We then developed a Climate Action Plan to reduce and offset emissions. We are in the process of implementing this now.”
What were the easy wins?
Some of the easy wins were officially declaring a climate emergency, as this clearly aligns with our organisation’s values and commitment to the planet. We also found lots of value in connecting with like-minded people and organisations through the B Corp community. We’ve learned a lot from our involvement and other businesses who have been showcased in the B Corp Climate Collective events.
What were the barriers, and how have you worked to overcome them?
One of the key challenges was building a complete understanding of the terminology and how it applied to our business. We spent a lot of time working out what we needed to include in our emissions, and how to calculate them, particularly as some calculations were not easily found online, particularly for services businesses like ours. To help us through this research process, we put on an additional team member. We did a lot of the initial leg-work ourselves to understand our business impact and avoid upfront consultant costs.
What’s the next step for People with Purpose?
We are now looking into bringing in a Climate Consultant to confirm calculations so that we can offset accordingly, and fully implement our Climate Action Plan.
What are your climate priorities in the next 5 years?
● Become Certified as carbon neutral by 30 June 2022
● Publish carbon emissions report annually
● Embed sustainability into our product and service design and delivery.
● Embed sustainability into our decision making and formal governance processes.
● Ensure client onboarding and selection process requires a client commitment to sustainability.
● Continue advocating for ambitious climate action for business.
● Continue implementing new practices to decrease emissions and reduce reliance on offsetting, especially as we grow.
What do you want to achieve by 2030?
By 2030, People With Purpose would like to be Carbon Positive, continuing all of the above actions and investing in sustainable natural environment projects.
Our Purpose is to equip business to improve the world. As part of our purpose, we see it as our responsibility to act towards a safe climate, leading by example and advocating for other businesses to join the climate action journey.
To achieve this, we have been actively involved in the B Corp Climate Collective, supporting bi-monthly events. These have been a great way to connect with like-minded organisations and learn from others.