Achieving Carbon Literacy: Our Commitment to a Sustainable Future

At Disruptive, we're all about making a positive impact on the planet while delivering for our clients. We're super excited to share that we've just earned our Carbon Literacy accreditation through the Ignite: Carbon Edition programme brilliantly delivered by Impact Amplified. This achievement reflects our dedication to environmental responsibility and showcases how we’re leading the way in sustainability, with some specific actions we were able to commit to, by the end of the programme.

Our Journey to Carbon Literacy

Our adventure into Carbon Literacy started with some homework and research - unlike many online courses the material was engaging, interesting and informative - some of the stuff we knew about already, but it also gave us some staggering insights into carbon production and what we need to think about if we are to reduce emissions - no spoilers! We then took part in an online workshop where we were able to not only learn from Olivia Sibony and the Impact Amplified team but also connect with other business leaders who were passionate about understanding the carbon crisis we are in. We learned about sustainability, tackling uncertain futures, and concepts like Doughnut economics. Here’s a peek into what we covered:

Pathway to Sustainability

We explored various sustainability pathways, and strategic routes to achieve long-term environmental goals. These pathways help us navigate uncertain futures with flexibility and resilience, aligning perfectly with our commitment to protect the planet for future generations.

Handling Uncertain Futures

Planning for uncertain futures is crucial. We learned to anticipate potential environmental challenges and develop strategies to mitigate their impact. This proactive approach ensures we're ready to tackle whatever comes our way while transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

The Nine Planetary Boundaries

We dived into the nine planetary boundaries, which represent the limits within which humanity can safely operate to avoid catastrophic environmental changes. By aligning our operations with these boundaries, we’re contributing positively to the global effort to maintain a stable and resilient Earth system.

Doughnut Economics

Doughnut Economics is a fantastic take on sustainable development. It balances meeting everyone’s needs within the planet’s limits. Imagine a Doughnut where the inner ring represents the social foundation and the outer ring the ecological ceiling. Our goal is to operate within this "Doughnut," promoting economic activities that support social well-being without harming the environment.

Innovation and Transitioning to Low-Carbon

Innovation is key to a low-carbon future. We learned about a Foresight tool called 3 Horizons, which helps us easily understand systems thinking, and how to think in "patterns". This helped us uncover:

• Why and how Business as Usual is no longer fit for purpose

• How to flex our imagination muscles in order to co-create a vision for transformative change that brings about a new way of working

• How to focus on the immediate next steps and innovations, that will help us deliver on our long-term vision for a positive future, rather than focus on incremental, sticky plaster solutions that will inadvertently prolong the status quo.

Our Commitment to Protecting the Planet

By achieving Carbon Literacy Project accreditation, we feel like we’ve taken a meaningful step toward fulfilling our commitment to sustainability. This milestone reflects our dedication to protecting the planet and highlights the importance of integrating sustainable practices into every aspect of our business. It’s the very beginning of a journey we’re very excited to be on.

One early action we’ve taken as a team is to review and change our personal banking providers - as a business, we already use Starling Bank but by raising awareness internally of tools such as www.bank.green to see how much different banks fund climate-damaging industries.

The Carbon: Ignite programme we took at Impact Amplified is designed to help navigate and simplify the complexities of climate change, and then help you see how you can take meaningful action in the context of your role at work, no matter what stage of the journey you are at. 

The 1-day course qualifies you to receive the official UN-approved Carbon Literacy Accreditation, which you can add to your credentials,  and you have the opportunity to join a community of like-minded alumni who support each other through the next stage.

You can sign up here or we can introduce you to one of the co-founders, Olivia Sibony, if you'd like to find out more.