For the sustainability community, 2020 is a particularly important date in time. 2020 sustainability goals have always been highly fashionable — particularly the goal of a 20 percent reduction by 2020. Carbon. Energy. Waste. Water. All of these are potential targets for reduction and all have been included in many organizations’ 20 percent by 2020 reduction goal.
According to the website Pivot Goals, within the Fortune 250 there are 330 energy, climate, or GHG targets with 2020 as the target date. But 2020 is quickly approaching, and many organizations have not yet done enough to reduce their footprints by 20 percent. Organizations have grown, shrunk, pivoted, merged, or been sold. The baselines established pre-2010 have changed, sometimes radically. Mechanically and technically speaking, most organizations have significant uncertainty and data gaps in their calculations that make the 2020 targets hard to even measure. For this reason, and many others, facility managers will continue to play a critical role in the GHG inventorying and emissions reductions effort as they are involved in the deep details of GHG emissions performance.
William Paddock (william@wapsustainability.com) is co-founder and managing director of WAP Sustainability Consulting. Paddock has worked with a variety of Fortune 500 companies, federal agencies, local governments and non-profits, including leaders in the consumer and building products industries.
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