Net zero without the jargon: a practical starting point

"Net zero" has become one of those phrases that means everything and nothing. For a mid-market business under pressure from customers, investors or a tender questionnaire, the jargon can be paralysing — scopes, offsets, science-based targets, a fog of terminology that makes a sensible first step hard to find. So let us strip it back. Net zero, in practice, is three moves: know your footprint, build a plan, and show progress. Everything else is detail you can add later.

The jargon, translated

You will keep meeting one piece of terminology, so it is worth ninety seconds to make it painless. Emissions are usually sorted into three "scopes":

• Scope 1 is what you burn directly — gas in your boilers, fuel in your own vehicles.

• Scope 2 is the energy you buy — mainly the electricity that comes through your meter.

• Scope 3 is everything else across your value chain — your suppliers, business travel, the products you buy and sell.

That is the whole vocabulary you need to begin. Scope 1 and Scope 2 are the parts you most directly control, which makes them the sensible place to start.

Move one: know your footprint

You cannot manage what you have not measured, and a roadmap built on guesswork convinces no one. The first move is an honest baseline — what you use, where, and what it emits. For most businesses the raw material is already sitting in your energy bills and meter data. Start with Scope 1 and 2, because they are measurable, controllable, and the numbers you will be asked for first.

A footprint you can stand behind is worth far more than an ambitious target you cannot evidence.

Move two: build a plan

A plan turns a number into a set of actions with dates against them. It does not need to be elaborate. The strongest early plans tend to combine three things: using less energy through efficiency, buying cleaner energy through your supply contract, and — where it makes sense — generating your own, through on-site solar or similar.

The order matters. Efficiency first, because the cheapest and cleanest unit of energy is the one you do not use. Then cleaner procurement. Then generation. A credible plan is sequenced, costed and honest about what each step will and will not achieve.

Move three: show progress

Progress is what turns a claim into a credential. Track your footprint against your baseline, report it plainly, and be honest about the gaps. Stakeholders and tender assessors have grown wary of grand statements with nothing behind them — steady, evidenced progress beats a bold pledge every time.

Where energy procurement fits

This is the part often missed. Buying your energy well is not separate from your net zero plan — it funds it. The saving from a well-run tender can pay for the first efficiency measures or the early design work on solar. And your supply contract is itself a lever: choosing renewable-backed electricity reduces your reported Scope 2 emissions.

A word of honesty here, because it matters. A renewable-backed tariff is a genuine and useful step, but it is not the whole job — real reductions still come from using less and, over time, from genuinely additional clean generation. Anyone who tells you a single certificate makes you "green" is overselling it. Measure honestly, claim carefully, and you will never be caught out.

What to do next

If sustainability pressure is mounting and you are not sure where to begin, begin with the numbers you already have. A recent bill and a 10-minute call are enough for us to help you see your energy footprint clearly, find the saving that could fund your first steps, and line up a supply contract that supports the plan rather than working against it — all with a fixed, visible fee and nothing hidden in your rate.