During spring Max Abrahamsson has been cooperating with us here at Avalon on his master thesis. Max is a machine engineer focusing on product development, he describes himself as a true problem solver and has complemented his education with a masters degree in innovation. During the work on his thesis Max has analysed the efforts various businesses have put into sustainability as well as external research and investigations in order to evaluate tools which can be used by small and medium sized companies to help them calculate their environmental impact by clear factors and measurable values. To clarify which activities in a business have the greatest environmental impact the tools should be applicable on three levels, the individual level, the facility level and the company level. We have spoken to Max about “false sustainability efforts”, greenwashing and how to easiest get your sustainability efforts started.
Welcome Max! May I start by asking why you choose the topic of sustainability?
Environment and sustainability is very important, in the news and has a huge potential for improvement. Everyone impacts the climate to some extent but it is only the impact of major corporations which are properly regulated. Small and medium sized corporations are free to control their sustainability efforts in accordance with their own interests. These corporations make up 99,9 percent of the businesses in Sweden. That is what motivated me to look into ways and opportunities for them to measure their impact on climate.
Measuring the correct factors is at the heart of your study – why do you feel that is so important?
Measuring climate impact correctly is vital for you to be able to take the correct actions. If you have clear numbers – our climate impact would have been this much smaller if we had taken our bike rather than our car – then you can follow up on those goals and see the results. Everybody wants to have realistic goals to work towards.
My hypothesis is that many corporations assume what their greatest climate impact is and put their efforts towards goals based on that, but that assumed impact might not at all be their greatest impact. Their efforts turn into “false sustainability efforts” which might keep a corporation from taking the correct actions and putting their efforts where they do the most good.
How have you investigated your hypothesis further?
I have made a survey among 27 different companies of which 22 are small or of medium size. Avalon is one of these companies. I asked them if they had measured their climate impact or not and why. My results show that 4 in 5 of the major corporations had measured their impact, but only 2 in 22 small and medium sized corporations had done any measurements.
The survey also showed that the reason behind the low number of measurements in small and medium sized corporations is a lack of resources, knowledge and data.
In your opinion why is it that so few small and medium sized companies measure their climate impact?
They lack the knowledge and resources. Large corporations have climate experts who work specifically with methods for those companies to reduce their climate impact and emissions. In smaller businesses they don’t have people with that kind of training and the task ends up with someone without the correct qualifications. That someone might also have another position which takes precedent. It is fairly obvious that erroneous measurements could easily be the result if there is a lack of time and competence.
Corporations generally consider climate issues a cost rather than an opportunity. Working with climate issues doesn’t only mean additional costs and increased workload, it also offers great opportunities. — It is a great chance for a business to become a role model or leader in their industry. Another vital component is to motivate ourselves rather than surrendering to despair.
How do you go about measuring the climate impact of a corporation?
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the accepted and most common method of measuring the climate impact of a corporation. This method covers three scopes i.e. three levels of climate impact.
– SCOPE 1 covers the direct environmental impact caused by vehicles, factories and anything else directly controlled by the company.
– SCOPE 2 encompasses those emissions made in connection with electricity and heating services purchased by the company.
– SCOPE 3 shows a company’s indirect climate impact. Indirect impact includes among others, business trips not using company owned vehicles, commuting, refuse handling and emissions from customer use of company products.
In many businesses scope 3 covers the majority of emissions but is unfortunately often overlooked due to the difficulty in measuring and remedying the related factors.
What actions would you suggest companies take to reduce their climate impact?
Start by measuring the climate impact of your corporation. This way you get clear information of what your impact is and how large it is.
It is also important to spread information and motivate colleagues in taking action based on the situation the company finds itself in. Consider every action a victory rather than saying “Why should we eat vegetarian while China is still building coal power plants?”. Everyone must do their part!
Don’t take remedial climate actions solely to make the business appear in a better light, so called greenwashing. It is counterproductive to other corporations who are actually trying to make a real difference to the environment.
Some concrete tips to lessen a company’s climate impact are:
-explore the opportunities of digital meetings rather than travelling to in person meetings
-if travelling is necessary, try to use public transport and regional trains to a greater extent
-serve vegetarian cuisine at events and conferences
As humans we are always tempted by easy or cheap options which are seldom the best from a climate perspective. What is your advice to help us break free from convenience and start making better choices?
Take it step by step e.g. start by taking the bus one day per week and gradually increase the number of days per week you take the bus. Always try to move forward in all fields rather than risking no improvement at all. If you’re training for a marathon you have to gradually increase your speed and distance, you can’t do it all perfectly on your first attempt.
Set your own goals and do your own climate calculations. There are many homepages and tools you can use to measure climate impact e.g Naturvårdsverket and Climate Hero.
Do you have any advice for other students about to embark on their own masters thesis?
A mistake many make is conducting a study in a field that a corporation desires rather than choosing a field the student is interested in. This was a large part of the reason I chose the field I did – Helene [CEO Avalon Innovation] asked “What do you want to do?”, and I greatly appreciated that. It’s a question I wish every company would ask their thesis students as a way of optimising cooperation and achieving the best result.
Many thanks to Max for his masters thesis and the new initiatives he has inspired here at Avalon Innovation as a part of our continued sustainability work.
During spring Max Abrahamsson has been cooperating with us here at Avalon on his master thesis. Max is a machine engineer focusing on product development, he describes himself as a true problem solver and has complemented his education with a masters degree in innovation. During the work on his thesis Max has analysed the efforts various businesses have put into sustainability as well as external research and investigations in order to evaluate tools which can be used by small and medium sized companies to help them calculate their environmental impact by clear factors and measurable values. To clarify which activities in a business have the greatest environmental impact the tools should be applicable on three levels, the individual level, the facility level and the company level. We have spoken to Max about “false sustainability efforts”, greenwashing and how to easiest get your sustainability efforts started.
Welcome Max! May I start by asking why you choose the topic of sustainability?
Environment and sustainability is very important, in the news and has a huge potential for improvement. Everyone impacts the climate to some extent but it is only the impact of major corporations which are properly regulated. Small and medium sized corporations are free to control their sustainability efforts in accordance with their own interests. These corporations make up 99,9 percent of the businesses in Sweden. That is what motivated me to look into ways and opportunities for them to measure their impact on climate.
Measuring the correct factors is at the heart of your study – why do you feel that is so important?
Measuring climate impact correctly is vital for you to be able to take the correct actions. If you have clear numbers – our climate impact would have been this much smaller if we had taken our bike rather than our car – then you can follow up on those goals and see the results. Everybody wants to have realistic goals to work towards.
My hypothesis is that many corporations assume what their greatest climate impact is and put their efforts towards goals based on that, but that assumed impact might not at all be their greatest impact. Their efforts turn into “false sustainability efforts” which might keep a corporation from taking the correct actions and putting their efforts where they do the most good.
How have you investigated your hypothesis further?
I have made a survey among 27 different companies of which 22 are small or of medium size. Avalon is one of these companies. I asked them if they had measured their climate impact or not and why. My results show that 4 in 5 of the major corporations had measured their impact, but only 2 in 22 small and medium sized corporations had done any measurements.
The survey also showed that the reason behind the low number of measurements in small and medium sized corporations is a lack of resources, knowledge and data.
In your opinion why is it that so few small and medium sized companies measure their climate impact?
They lack the knowledge and resources. Large corporations have climate experts who work specifically with methods for those companies to reduce their climate impact and emissions. In smaller businesses they don’t have people with that kind of training and the task ends up with someone without the correct qualifications. That someone might also have another position which takes precedent. It is fairly obvious that erroneous measurements could easily be the result if there is a lack of time and competence.
Corporations generally consider climate issues a cost rather than an opportunity. Working with climate issues doesn’t only mean additional costs and increased workload, it also offers great opportunities. — It is a great chance for a business to become a role model or leader in their industry. Another vital component is to motivate ourselves rather than surrendering to despair.
How do you go about measuring the climate impact of a corporation?
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the accepted and most common method of measuring the climate impact of a corporation. This method covers three scopes i.e. three levels of climate impact.
– SCOPE 1 covers the direct environmental impact caused by vehicles, factories and anything else directly controlled by the company.
– SCOPE 2 encompasses those emissions made in connection with electricity and heating services purchased by the company.
– SCOPE 3 shows a company’s indirect climate impact. Indirect impact includes among others, business trips not using company owned vehicles, commuting, refuse handling and emissions from customer use of company products.
In many businesses scope 3 covers the majority of emissions but is unfortunately often overlooked due to the difficulty in measuring and remedying the related factors.
What actions would you suggest companies take to reduce their climate impact?
Start by measuring the climate impact of your corporation. This way you get clear information of what your impact is and how large it is.
It is also important to spread information and motivate colleagues in taking action based on the situation the company finds itself in. Consider every action a victory rather than saying “Why should we eat vegetarian while China is still building coal power plants?”. Everyone must do their part!
Don’t take remedial climate actions solely to make the business appear in a better light, so called greenwashing. It is counterproductive to other corporations who are actually trying to make a real difference to the environment.
Some concrete tips to lessen a company’s climate impact are:
-explore the opportunities of digital meetings rather than travelling to in person meetings
-if travelling is necessary, try to use public transport and regional trains to a greater extent
-serve vegetarian cuisine at events and conferences
As humans we are always tempted by easy or cheap options which are seldom the best from a climate perspective. What is your advice to help us break free from convenience and start making better choices?
Take it step by step e.g. start by taking the bus one day per week and gradually increase the number of days per week you take the bus. Always try to move forward in all fields rather than risking no improvement at all. If you’re training for a marathon you have to gradually increase your speed and distance, you can’t do it all perfectly on your first attempt.
Set your own goals and do your own climate calculations. There are many homepages and tools you can use to measure climate impact e.g Naturvårdsverket and Climate Hero.
Do you have any advice for other students about to embark on their own masters thesis?
A mistake many make is conducting a study in a field that a corporation desires rather than choosing a field the student is interested in. This was a large part of the reason I chose the field I did – Helene [CEO Avalon Innovation] asked “What do you want to do?”, and I greatly appreciated that. It’s a question I wish every company would ask their thesis students as a way of optimising cooperation and achieving the best result.
Many thanks to Max for his masters thesis and the new initiatives he has inspired here at Avalon Innovation as a part of our continued sustainability work.
Interview conducted by:
Anna Wärdell, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Avalon Innnovation