Go Net Zero Now with Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Explain why organizations need reliable environmental data to go net zero now.
• Define the term carbon footprint.
• Explain how organizations use Salesforce Net Zero Cloud to track, analyze, and report emissions so they can go net zero now.

Take Steps Toward Net Zero

The world is in a climate crisis and the need to reduce carbon emissions has never been more urgent. But tracking all of a company’s value chain emissions can be a complex and cumbersome process. 

Regulators, investors, and customers are increasingly urging companies to get to net zero now. This means companies have to focus on sustainability and commit to a future where global temperatures rise no more than 1.5° Celsius. To do this, they need to pay attention to their carbon footprints and offsets. 

What’s a carbon footprint? It’s an individual or organization’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. And without a reliable, accurate representation of a company’s carbon footprint, it’s hard to know how to chart the path to net zero.

But some organizations aren’t tracking their carbon footprint at all. Other organizations are trying to work with environmental data in siloed systems or in spreadsheets. Even if an organization tracks this data, it can take 6 to 8 months to collect data from the previous fiscal year. Time spent looking in the rearview mirror is time you can’t take action in the present.

Businesses also need to build trust and transparency with stakeholders and show that they are making progress to net zero. They do that by providing accurate reports on their progress and sharing their plans for a more sustainable future. 

That’s why we built Net Zero Cloud: to help all our customers track and reduce their emissions and go net zero now. Some might even say it’s Net-Zero-as-a-Service!

Get Real-Time Reporting and Insights on Your Net Zero Progress

Net Zero Cloud is a complete sustainability management platform. Companies use Net Zero Cloud for carbon emissions tracking and reduction, which are critical first steps on the path to net zero. With Net Zero Cloud, they can quickly view, analyze, and report on their environmental footprint with reliable, investor-grade data. This data is essential for third-party audits, financial filings, corporate reputation, and building trust with all stakeholders.

Net Zero Cloud gives companies a single source of truth for their environmental data. They can load data into Net Zero Cloud with APIs or bulk uploads. With all the data  in one place, companies spend less time manually collecting and reporting, and more time on advancing sustainability initiatives with their stakeholders. 

The Intelligent Document Reader (IDS) can be used to upload data from documents directly into Net Zero Cloud object records. A use case for IDS is commonly referred to as bill scan or invoice scan. IDS uses the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Textract service, and does require an AWS account.

Use of AWS products, services, and features is governed by privacy policies and service agreements maintained by AWS.

As of the Spring ’22 release, organizations that use Net Zero Cloud get the following benefits.

• Easy and Comprehensive Reporting Get investor-grade data and detailed dashboards for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, plus waste management, all in one place.
• Trusted Supplier Engagement Collaborate safely and securely with suppliers with pre-built portal templates and a supplier management data model.
• Actionable Insights Find your fastest path to net zero with what-if analysis, alignment to science-based targets, and forecasting.
• Flexible, Agile, and Scalable Platform Use the full power of Salesforce to customize apps and workflows, and seamlessly integrate data from multiple sources.

And with Einstein 1, customers can customize Net Zero Cloud to their needs by integrating data sources, like utility and finance. They can build their own apps. And they can leverage Trailhead to mobilize and engage their entire workforce, and use Slack to engage suppliers, MuleSoft to integrate data, and Tableau to share executive dashboards. 

Summary

Salesforce believes that business is a platform for change. With Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, you now have a 360-degree view of your carbon footprint and data-driven insights. With these tools, your organization is one step closer to going net zero now.

Resources

• Salesforce Website: Net Zero Cloud
• Trailhead: Strategies for Net Zero Now
• Salesforce: Salesforce Stakeholder Impact Report FY21
• Salesforce PDF: Climate Action Plan
• Salesforce PDF: Reducing Value Chain Emissions by Enabling Supplier Action
• Salesforce Help: Load Document Data to Net Zero Cloud Objects with Intelligent Document Reader
• External Site: AWS: Amazon Textract