Reducing carbon emissions is increasingly becoming a business imperative. The introduction of tax incentives and the possibility of a carbon tax on the horizon make reducing greenhouse gas emissions good business sense, according to Dom Chennells.

With a view to enabling South Africa to meet its commitments in term of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the government has touted the introduction of a Carbon Tax from next January.

“But, if companies focus on the ‘carrot’ rather than the ‘stick’, they will truly be able to appreciate the benefits of implementing carbon-reducing energy solutions such as solar power,” explains Dom Chennells, CFO of SOLA Future Energy.

“Cost drivers for many businesses are likely to be the ones that produce the most greenhouse gases, such as fossil-fuel generated electricity, business travel, and waste disposal,” he points out.

Chennells adds that supplementing a business’ energy mix with a solar photovoltaic (PV) system is a cost-effective way to reduce operating costs and carbon emissions in the long run.

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Banking group Nedbank sustainability carbon specialist Dr Marco Lotz announced that the Carbon Footprinting Guide was available for download free of charge at The Glass Recycling Company, South Africa’s official organisation for promoting glass recycling, The Glass Recycling Company’s inaugural Green Dialogues conference at the Holiday Inn, in Sandton, took place in May.

“The main aim of the guide is to demystify carbon footprint approaches and help readers grasp the main concepts, as well as to expose them to know-how with regard to emissions calculations,” adds Lotz, emphasising that the guide has been distilled from a variety of sources to provide useful guidance on effective carbon dioxide waste management specifically suited to South Africa.

“Nedbank hopes to play some small part in the success and longevity of those companies that are starting on or enhancing their carbon reduction journeys,” says Nedbank chief executive Mike Brown.

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The National Treasury on Tuesday published the ‘Carbon Offsets Paper’ for public comment, outlining proposals for a carbon offset scheme that would enable businesses to lower their carbon tax liability and make investments that would reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

The carbon offsets scheme was meant to complement the carbon tax that South Africa planned to introduce from 2016 onwards and formed part of the measures the country planned to implement to address climate change.


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South African banking group Nedbank, in partnership with the Sustainability Institute (Stellenbosch University) has launched a practical book aimed at advancing the control, minimisation and measurement of carbon footprints in the country. With the South African National Treasury proposing the phasing-in of a domestic carbon tax from in early 2015, this book explores how South African companies can monitor their tax compliance by calculating their own carbon footprint ahead of the introduction of this new tax legislation.

The book “Carbon footprinting: A practical calculation guide focusing on measuring, monitoring, reporting and verification” will provide a guide for companies and other organisations to better understand their carbon impact and then implement effective carbon reduction programmes throughout their operations and activities.

The book will assist readers to be:

• Better placed to reduce operational expenditures associated with the use of energy.
• Better geared for the looming domestic and international financial penalties that will be associated with Green House Gases (GHG) pollution.
• Able to make informed operational choices.
• Able to think strategically about developing products and services for an increasingly complex world with environmental limitations.

“We have partnered with Nedbank to create what we believe is a valuable addition to the knowledge that currently exists on carbon footprinting in the South African context, that we intend to share with many other academic institutions in the near future. We fully endorse it as a useful contribution to the sustainability debate,” Alan Brent, professor and associate director at the Sustainability Institute and co-author of the guide, says.

Despite numerous reputable sources of information freely available on internet relating to climate change and carbon footprinting, Nedbank and the Sustainability Institute firmly believe there is a need for such content. “The sources that currently exist are geared towards people who are already experts of carbon. This book is not. It takes the reader by the hand and explains in a step-by-step manner the nuances of carbon calculations by using day-to-day examples and investigates the challenges faced in the South African GHG reporting context in a conversational style,” says Dr Marco Lotz, co-author of the book and Nedbank sustainability carbon specialist.

The first section of the book consists of the conversational theory by example “how to” that explains international conventions and local applications of carbon footprinting. The second section consists of a selection of case studies. The reader is exposed to real carbon footprint case studies and Green House Gas (GHG) information of predominantly South African companies. Nedbank’s intention is that the book be distributed free of charge, in both hard copy and as a downloadable file.