What you don’t know, CAN hurt you

When it comes to living and working sustainably it’s always a good idea to look in the mirror and think about the changes you personally (or as a business) can make to contribute to a healthier planet.

At home, this might be recycling more or walking to work instead of driving, while at work this may mean your business switching to renewable energy or reducing the use of single-use plastics. These are practices I have definitely become more engaged in since I joined Bupa’s eco-Disruptive program.

Discussing sustainability with my teammates and sustainable start-ups on a daily basis has definitely opened my eyes to the challenges facing our planet and the undeniable link between the health of the planet and the health of people.

Blind spots

Nevertheless, I have realised that no matter how hard one looks in the mirror or at one’s own activities there is a Scope 3 blind spot impairing our ability to achieve Net Zero.

But what are they?

Scope 3 emissions encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself, but by those that it's indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain. Think raw materials, resellers and rubbish collection. This makes it tricky to address and sometimes even tricker to identify.

A solution? 

Our team knew Scope 3 was a problem, but it was only when we engaged ClimateClever, that we opened our eyes to the new and novel innovative ways businesses could track and manage those emissions.

At its core, ClimateClever is empowered by cutting-edge software, designed to empower users to calculate, monitor, and benchmark their carbon footprints. Moreover, it provides the means to create individualized, data-driven sustainability action plans, offset emissions, and procure comprehensive carbon footprint reports. As part of a seamless digital platform, your suppliers just need to tag their emissions directly to projects or events which will then aggregate into your own impact score.

This is a vital tool because for many businesses, Scope 3 emissions account for more than 70 per cent of their carbon footprint.

The journey

We know that an app cannot be the be-all and end-all of sustainability reporting and that healthcare is a complex and humungous system comprised of thousands of suppliers, properties and practitioners. However, through a limited pilot, we hope to show how live digital tagging of Scope 3 emissions can be part of the conversation to simplify the process somewhat and more importantly shed light on the direct environmental impacts of non-direct business activities. 

There may be a long way to go towards decarbonising healthcare, but we know we can’t shy away from big challenges. So, here’s to taking a big swing for a big impact on the health of the planet and the health of humankind.