Starting in 2024, the European Commission will apply the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) which mandates companies to disclose their sustainability initiatives and environmental impact. This directive aims to ensure that the EU achieves its emission reduction target of 55% by 2030 (relative to 1990 levels) and becomes climate-neutral by 2050. Consequently, all companies will be obligated to comply with ESG regulations.
Due to the increasing attention on environmental, social, and governance concerns, as well as the expanding regulatory framework surrounding ESG, numerous organizations are placing greater importance on ESG readiness and intensifying their commitment to achieving ESG goals. As a result of regulatory implications and increased stakeholder engagement in ESG activities, there is a heightened demand for integrating and interconnecting information, functions, and processes. This integration involves establishing stronger connections between financial and non-financial information to effectively address ESG requirements.
Whilst organizations progress from strategy to execution, they should make operational adjustments to support their decarbonization goals. This entails identifying innovative technologies to drive energy savings, enhancing sustainability reporting, assurance, governance, and compliance to promote cleaner technology adoption, and collaborating with other energy, resources, and industrial companies to develop cross-sector solutions.
Many companies are increasingly focused on reducing their carbon emissions both as a way to mitigate climate change and to meet consumer demand for environmental friendly products and services.
As a technology company, we are committed to caring for our planet, and as part of our ESG strategy, we strive to minimize the negative impact of CO2 emissions. To achieve this, we conducted a thorough analysis and determined that it is important to include CO2 savings on the documents generated through our Utility and Telecom Suite and in the Self-Service Portal. Our Real-Time ESG Calculator determines the amount of emissions that customers have saved by using Methodia’s platform.
Displaying CO2 savings on a Self-Service Portal can provide a range of benefits for both utility suppliers and their clients. One major advantage is that it empowers customers to take action and make more sustainable choices. When users can see the consequences of their actions, they are more likely to adopt behaviours that help them reduce carbon footprint, such as signing up for paperless billing, signing contracts digitally, submit meter readings online.
Here we outline the significant advantages that utility retailers can gain by measuring and displaying the amount of CO2 emissions saved by digitizing some of the main company’s processes.
Environmental Sustainability
Encouraging clients to opt-out of paper invoices and sign their contracts online helps utility companies limit their environmental impact by reducing the amount of paper used. By submitting their readings online, customers can help decrease the CO2 emissions associated with manual reading. When a meter reader visits a customer’s address, he must travel to the location, often using a vehicle that produces carbon emissions. As an alternative, meter reading can be completed quickly and efficiently online which is very important for a utility company that reads millions of data points each year.
Increased engagement
Customers are increasingly looking for companies that prioritize sustainability, so a carbon footprint calculator on the Self-Service Portal can help to build trust, credibility and differentiate the company from its competitors. An organization’s brand and reputation can improve significantly by demonstrating a commitment to the environment because clients are more likely to feel content with a company that shows devotion and responsibility to its values which ultimately leads to improved customer retention and positive recommendations.
Regulatory compliance
Many countries and regions are introducing regulations and targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 43% by 2030 relative to the 2019 level. Utility providers can demonstrate their compliance with these regulations, by measuring and reporting. As governments and regulatory bodies continue to set ambitious targets for reducing carbon footprint, it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to these standards. Hence, both suppliers and their customers will be able to calculate, report, and obtain an annual figure representing their total CO2 savings throughout the year that can be used during audits in the subsequent year.
Cost savings
In addition to the environmental benefits, encouraging customers to reduce the CO2 emissions by using digital services, can also help utilities cut costs and improve efficiency. Paper invoicing and contracting can be expensive due to paper printing and postage expenses. Company’s expenses can be cut down by urging customers to choose digital invoices and opt-out of paper-based ones. Online meter reading submission can diminish the costs associated with manual meter reading such as transportation and fuel consumption.
Part of the ESG strategy
Incorporating greenhouse gas emissions measurement in an ESG strategy is critical, as it enables businesses to evaluate and track their ecological impact and adopt measures to mitigate their carbon footprint. Furthermore, enterprises may be required to report their carbon emissions as part of their ESG reporting and disclosure requirements. Investors are increasingly interested in the environmental policy of organizations they invest in.
In conclusion, utilities have a major role in reducing carbon emissions, thus a Customer Self-Service Portal with a footprint calculator that displays CO2 savings can be a powerful tool to promote sustainability, build customer trust and loyalty as well as to comply with climate change regulations. Showing customers their impact on environment and empowering them to take action will enable utility companies to become leaders in driving the transition to a more sustainable future for the planet.
Optimization of financial processes with an automated billing system
LEARNING HUB | BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
