Expand green governance for your business

Global giant Ikea recently committed to investing an additional £171m in green energy and forest planting as part of their plan to become carbon neutral within ten years.

Your company might not be able to match that, but there are other ways to make your business more environmentally responsible as businesses come under increasing pressure from government, clients and employees.

Green travel

For smaller and medium-sized businesses, an obvious starting point is green travel.

There are a range of options, some of which you may already have in place. The following are neither complicated nor costly to implement:

• Cycling to work can be encouraged by providing employees with tax-free bicycles and safety equipment.
• Loans can be made to purchase season tickets as an alternative to an employee driving in to work.
• Promote car sharing by offering an enhanced mileage allowance per additional passenger.
• Arrange free or discounted travel on public bus services.
• Provide showers and changing facilities for staff who want to walk, jog or cycle to work.

Also, the impact of daily commuting can be cut further if you can encourage flexible working from home.

Company cars

Changes to company car tax from 6 April 2020 provide a huge incentive to move to electric or hybrid vehicles. Pick the right car and your company will get a 100% up front deduction against profits, with the employee subject to little or no tax on their company car.

Embedding green policies

Focusing in-house, you can reduce energy use and make your products as ecologically safe as possible. Review your energy supplier and ensure company pension funds are invested ethically.  Keep an eye on your use of plastics and purchase green products wherever possible from your supply chain, engaging with suppliers to change their strategies where needed.

Go all the way by purchasing carbon credits to offset the carbon footprint generated by your company and/or your employees’ travel. Green concerns are here to stay, so make 2020 your year of change.

Source: BGM