Making business more sustainable is no longer done by a few, but rather the new norm. Due to regulations, stakeholder pressure, and even future risk management, more companies than ever are focusing on integrating sustainability into their business plan.
Still, many businesses are apprehensive. Becoming more sustainable has often been touted as costly, making many, especially smaller businesses with less revenue unable or unwilling to take action to make their businesses more sustainable.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. While there may be upfront costs for making your business more sustainable, especially related to greening your business, these costs could turn into short or long-term savings.
As the current climate crisis grows, there are also many government benefits that companies can take advantage of to make their business more sustainable. These are green incentives and grants available for making changes, thus allowing you to become more sustainable and rewarding you for doing so.
With knowledge of what is available to your company, you can tailor your 2024 strategy to make your business more sustainable without breaking the bank! Let’s dig into some of the available green incentives and grants available in Canada and the United States.
Green Incentives – Transitioning to Clean Energy
Due to the urgent need for decarbonization and goals set by the governments around net zero, much of the stimulus is related to decarbonization and energy efficiency, particularly the transition to clean energy.
The Cost of Not Transitioning
It is important to note when deciding to make improvements, especially in your energy choices, the cost associated with not making changes. In Canada, there is a carbon tax. What does this mean? Essentially there is now a cost associated with emitting carbon. It creates a financial incentive for businesses and individuals to pollute less. This money is rebated to families and individuals through a Climate Action Incentive payment, but businesses do not receive this. In the United States, there is not a federal carbon tax like in Canada but some States do have different carbon mechanisms to reduce and price carbon.
To make a full decision about the financial impact of making the change, you need to understand the financial impact of staying the same.
Emissions Reduction Plan
The federal government of Canada has created an Emissions Reduction Plan that aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. This plan includes green incentives and funding by sector as well as economy-wide initiatives to enable emissions reductions.
This plan includes many different streams of funding that can be found here! The Low Carbon Economy Challenge is included in this which allows you to apply for funding for the implementation of projects that deploy proven low-carbon technologies that will result in maximized GHG emissions reductions. The amount that the government would cover depends on what type of business you are and the cost of implementation.
There are also many tax credits related to greening your business included in the 2023 budget, like “The Investment Tax Credit for Clean Electricity”. If you are a Canadian business be sure to keep an eye out for updates on tax credits available in next year’s budget.
Inflation Reduction Act
In 2022, the most significant climate legislation was passed in the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act. Under the legislation, companies can take advantage of the largest climate investment in history, it aims to reduce the costs of transitioning and creating green jobs. Check out the review of the past year of investment here.
Due to the number of available funding programs and green incentives, it is impossible to create a list that encompasses them all in this post. Luckily, the Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook can aid you in finding the funding that best suits your needs!
Different tax credits are also available such as for clean energy technologies and specific benefits for implementation in communities with environmental justice concerns. A summary of these can be found here.
The Inflation Reduction Act is still fairly new so be sure to keep an eye out for any changes, new funding opportunities, or other green incentives in the coming year.
Key Sector Focus
Due to the nature of climate change, certain sectors have more of an impact especially when it comes to emissions. For this reason, in both the United States and Canada, certain sectors may have more green incentives available to them. This is because transitioning to a more sustainable future will be more costly and harder to do than other sectors with lower impacts. These may include:
- Buildings sector – from construction to real estate, the sector is known for its high emissions. To help with retrofit and the use of new technology and materials in new buildings to meet new building requirements funding may be available.
- Natural resources – from mining to oil and gas these sectors are key to the transition. From creating new jobs in emerging clean energy sectors to aiding in technologies to reduce the impact keep an eye out for government support.
- Manufacturing – understanding and changing harmful manufacturing practices for a more sustainable future is key to the transition. Assistance can be found for new equipment that can aid in reducing emissions and more.
- Climate and Clean Tech – emerging industries will expand our ability to be able to fight the climate crisis. It is not a surprise that a lot of investment is going into this space, from clean energy to other solutions that will help get us where we need to be.
Green Incentives in Your 2024 Strategy
As you prepare for the new year it is important to see what green incentives are available to your business. Doing so will allow you to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible for making your business more sustainable, without breaking the budget.
It is more important than ever that companies have a clear sustainability strategy. The benefits for businesses doing this are numerous!
Once you begin it is important to track the financial and sustainability ROI of initiatives. Data is key to this. If you are looking for a data partner or wondering how you can get started measuring and tracking initiatives today request a demo with ScriptString today to see how we can help you make the most of your initiatives.
