There is little doubt that sustainability is one of the most well-used buzzwords in the business world today. But, back in 2009, before many industries recognized the vital role of carbon reduction practices in addressing climate change, we were already looking for ways to empower companies to take action.

We asked ourselves questions such as:

• What can companies do to maintain their competitive edge while reducing the environmental impact of their supply chains and manufacturing processes?  
• How can organizations meet ambitious carbon reduction targets in a way which aligns with rather than works against their business strategies?
• How can we make it easier for businesses to transform ambitious environmental goals into measurable steps and have a meaningful impact?

The answers to these and other questions led to the creation of RESET Carbon. 

At a time when working sustainably was still a relatively new approach for leading brands, let alone smaller companies, we were developing ways to enable Asian and multi-national businesses with operations and supply chains in Asia to make meaningful reductions in their carbon, water and waste footprint.  

Empowering industry equals change

Our mission? To empower companies to actively transform their environmental impact at scale. 

This ambition inspired a journey which took us from a small organization to a team of 50 environmental specialists based in 6 locations, including Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam and India, with over 400 projects implemented to date. 

While we have evolved a lot since 2009, we’re proud to stay true to our original approach in being independent and mission driven. This has allowed us to remain wholly dedicated to helping companies to develop their carbon reduction practices. It also means that, even after 13 years, we are laser-focused on enabling sustainable practices, whether that is implementing a supply chain energy and carbon support programme for Adidas, supporting the Swire Coca Cola team to develop one of the most ambitious carbon reduction targets in Asia’s food and beverage sector, or helping Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to set and implement its carbon reduction goals.

Transforming ambition into action

What does it take to transform business sustainability aspirations into tangible steps forward? In our experience, it demands a critical combination of proven environmental expertise, internal collaboration and carefully selected specialist platforms and standards.

A key aspect of this is the deeply focused skills of our people, whether that is our founder’s experience in his former role as the Director of WWF International’s Asia-Pacific Climate Programme or our team’s combined expertise in business strategy, data management, supply chain procurement models, life cycle assessment, energy management and renewable energy procurement. The knowhow of our team is shaped around our offering to business – from strategy and targets to data, analytics and tracking to implementation support.

Thinking big starts with small steps

Becoming a more sustainable business is a big goal. Our experience has shown that real progress is cumulative, so our focus is always on working with companies at a pace to suit them, helping them to progress in stages. Another vital secret of success in meeting sustainability targets lies in addressing the details. This is why a specialist rather than a generalist approach is so key. As is the application of proven science-based methods and working collaboratively with companies to address how and where they can actively reduce their carbon footprint. 

Our collaborative approach extends to our work with carefully selected experts. One example is the relationship we have built with our sister company, Act Renewable, through whom we offer specialist corporate renewable energy procurement solutions. 

Another key partnership is our collaboration with the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) to develop the Carbon Leadership Program (CLP), a new carbon management program for manufacturing facilities. The programme has been extended to include Higg, the sustainability insights and measurements platform, which now includes the CLP methodology.

This is only the beginning…

We’ve proven for many businesses that taking care of the planet and making a profit don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We’ve demonstrated that even the most complex brand supply chains can be engaged to reduce environmental impacts at scale. And we’ve shown again and again it’s possible for brands to enhance their competitive edge alongside achieving carbon and other reduction goals. But this is just the beginning. 

With the imperative on companies to move faster in response to issues such as climate change and plastics, we’re working at speed to support customers’ increased level of ambition and scale by continually evolving our services to meet the growing need. There’s still so much more that companies can do to achieve measurable change and we’re very excited to be part of that transformational journey.