How carbon literacy can change your organisation and the behaviour of your workforce

Who is AG Comms? 

AG is an internal communications and employee experience agency powered by purpose. We’re a proud Certified B Corp and on a journey to become Net Zero by 2025. When AG Comms was founded in 2010, our purpose was driven by how challenging it was to find flexible opportunities for women in the corporate world. Since then, we've developed and grown a business model that benefits everyone who needs and wants flexibility and more purposeful work opportunities. 

AG’s environmental journey began in 2020 when our CEO reshaped the purpose of AG Comms, placing people and the planet at the heart of everything we do. This journey led to the creation of a five-year social and environmental plan, with clear targets that guide our work and inform the way we collaborate with clients. 

Before  

I completed Carbon Literacy Training in 2022, gaining invaluable insights to bring back to the team. This experience was a catalyst for the development of AG’s first course, Carbon Literacy for SMEs, helping all AG employees and members (suppliers) understand and reduce their carbon footprint. 

To learn more about the development of the Carbon Literacy for SMEs course, click here. 

During  

In May 2024, the course was officially accredited, marking a key milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainability. Following accreditation, we made the decision to mandate carbon literacy certification for all AG employees. This requirement has been integrated into our employee induction process, ensuring that sustainability remains a core value from the outset of each new employee’s journey with AG. 

Furthermore, this commitment was extended to our supply chain. All suppliers working with AG are now required to obtain carbon literacy certification and to measure their carbon footprint annually. This data will be included in AG's Scope 3 carbon emissions, ensuring that our entire value chain is aligned with our sustainability goals. These requirements will be embedded in all future contractual agreements with suppliers. To support our suppliers, carbon literacy training has been incorporated into the onboarding process. Suppliers will also have the opportunity to attend the next available training course to meet these new requirements and contribute to the collective effort of reducing carbon emissions when working on AG projects. 

“I have made it our business criteria for all employees and all consultants that work on our client projects to be Carbon Literacy Trained. We are at 92% for our deadline of April 2025 and our target of 100% will be achieved in March 2025” – Lynne, AG CEO 

It is crucial that everyone working on behalf of AG, especially those engaging with clients, understands the environmental impact of their actions and can make informed, responsible decisions. 

To ensure that everyone had the opportunity to attend, both in-person and online course options were made available. The course was also offered to all employees and suppliers for free of charge.  

Many learners initially felt intimidated by their limited knowledge of climate change, fearing it might impact their performance. However, I reassured them that the course was designed to be accessible to all, regardless of their prior understanding. I ensured that both online and in-person formats were interactive, encouraging learners to ask questions and engage in group discussions, which helped to create a more inclusive and effective learning environment. 

The biggest challenge was getting all suppliers to understand that they too had a role to play. As a business that works virtually, it is often difficult to see the environmental impact of your actions. During the course, I explained to participants that the digital technology is responsible for around 4% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is more than the entire aviation industry. By 2025 emissions will reach over 7% of total emissions. As a group, I led the discussion on how we can make changes to project activities but that we also have the power to influence others, sharing knowledge and facts, and opening up discussion on climate change can be just as impactful as action.  

After  

In the six months since the course was accredited, I have trained 40 people, provided £2860 of free training and participated in Carbon Literacy Action Day 2024. The course fee has donated £1000 to Rewilding Britain. 

Carbon Literacy has influenced the positive mindset of the team. They have become increasingly confident in challenging ‘business as usual’ and discussing alternative low carbon ways of working with clients.  

AG’s mission is to help purpose-driven leaders communicate, as we support equality, equity, and climate action to create a better world, and in every client project, we consider the environmental impact, and we also share data, knowledge, and best practices with our stakeholders. Below are some examples of changes to our business practices since the team attended the course.  

Digital Clean-up 

“Since completing the carbon literacy course and learning about how digital carbon emissions are responsible for around 4% of GHG emissions, I developed a 'Digital Clean-up' toolkit to help inform others about the impact of unwanted data storage in their SharePoint and Teams sites and to inspire action. The toolkit was shared with the client which resulted in the team taking part in a 'Digital Clean-up' of their project files in SharePoint to declutter and reduce the site emissions. The team removed significant number of unwanted files, videos, and images from their document storage, and the result was a 88% reduction in carbon emissions from document storage.” Emily, AG employee 

Impact of data storage 

“Since attending the course, we now outline in the initial client engagement that there will be up to two rounds of amends of a draft video project because of the significant environmental impact of data storage.” James, AG supplier 

Helping others  

“Using the knowledge learnt on the course, our impact consultants have shared the importance of understanding carbon footprint, and we have helped five clients measure their footprint, using Green Small Business and adopt an environmental policy and action plan to reduce it.” Lynne, AG CEO 

Challenge the business norms 

“I’ve challenged the need for physical event materials including banners, asking clients to consider if materials will be used more than once or will it be thrown away after the event.” Katherine, AG supplier  

What’s next? 

In 2025, the goal is to train even more people to support them on their sustainability journey. I am excited to offer the course to AG purpose partners and networks at a discounted rate, ensuring that carbon literacy is accessible to everyone. I understand the importance of everyone having a clear understanding of environmental impact and its benefits. I will also be participating in Carbon Literacy Action Day 2025. To further AG’s commitment to sustainability, we will continue supporting Rewilding Britain by donating £25 from every course participant’s fee.