- Reduction starts from the footprint: it reveals the heaviest categories, the ones to concentrate action on.
- You prioritize by weighing the weight of each category against the effort required (80/20 logic), starting with accessible, high-impact gains.
- A credible target is quantified, dated and science-based, via the SBTi (short term then net zero, -90% by 2050).
- The pathway is built through iterations and tracked each year, measuring the gap between expected and actual reductions.
How do you reduce your carbon footprint?
By acting on the categories that the footprint has revealed as the heaviest. A carbon footprint without an action plan is a diagnosis without a treatment. Once your emissions are measured and ranked, the levers depend on your emissions profile:
- energy and buildings: sufficiency, efficiency, switching to low-carbon sources;
- travel and transport: modal shift, logistics optimization, lower-emitting vehicles;
- purchasing and suppliers: choosing lower-carbon suppliers, eco-design, extending product lifespan;
- sold products: reducing the impact in use and at end of life.
The biggest reduction opportunities most often sit in scope 3, that is with your suppliers and in the use of your products. For the wider picture, go back to our article on the company carbon footprint.
How do you prioritize reduction actions?
By weighing two criteria: the weight of the category in your footprint and the effort needed to act. This is the pragmatic approach we apply at Ditto. In most footprints, the 80/20 logic holds: a small share of the categories concentrates the bulk of the emissions. So you weigh each big category against the effort it demands, and you start with the most accessible gains (high impact, reasonable effort), before tackling the categories that are big but harder, leaving aside the marginal ones. This ranking comes directly from the footprint: without measurement, you scatter your efforts across actions that are visible but not very effective.
How do you set a credible reduction target?
A credible target is quantified, dated and science-based, not a vague intention. In concrete terms, it sets a percentage reduction in emissions by a given deadline (often 2030), consistent with international climate pathways. This is what separates a serious commitment from a poorly founded neutrality claim, a topic to handle with care to avoid greenwashing, covered in our article on carbon neutrality, net zero and offsetting.
The reference for framing this target is the SBTi.
What is the SBTi?
The SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) is the international initiative that validates companies' climate targets against science, based on the work of the IPCC and the International Energy Agency. It offers a general method, common to all sectors (known as the cross-sector pathway), and specific criteria for high-emitting sectors such as cement or steel. The general method is enough for most companies: according to the SBTi, 90% of those that set a science-based target use it.
The SBTi distinguishes two horizons, which complement each other.
The short term (near-term). This is the foundation and the mandatory starting point: a reduction over the next 5 to 10 years. The target must cover at least 95% of your direct emissions (scopes 1 and 2). If your scope 3 exceeds 40% of your total emissions, you must also set a target on that scope, covering at least 67% of your scope 3 emissions.
Net zero (long term). It extends the short term: reduce your emissions across the whole value chain by at least 90% by 2050 at the latest, then neutralize the remainder (less than 10%) through permanent carbon removals. Net zero is therefore not offsetting: you first reduce massively, and you only neutralize the residual share you cannot eliminate.
The short term remains a mandatory step toward net zero. The SBTi also indicates that 91% of committed companies consider that their target has had a positive effect on their business (reputation, strategy, long-term performance).
How do you build your pathway in practice?
A pathway is not set all at once, it is built through iterations. The practical method:
- Start from your footprint and the short-term target you are aiming for, that is the percentage reduction to reach.
- List reduction actions on your priority categories, and estimate the expected impact of each one in tCO2e.
- Add up these impacts and compare the total to the target pathway: are you aligned, below, above?
- Adjust: add, strengthen or remove actions until you cover the short-term target, then extend the reasoning toward net zero.
It is a constant back-and-forth between the actions and the target, not a fixed plan. You refine it each year, as the actions produce their real effects and the categories evolve.
Can an SME commit to the SBTi?
Yes. The SBTi provides a dedicated route for small and medium-sized enterprises to have their targets validated, simpler than the path for large groups. An SME therefore does not need to wait until it is a major emitter to set a credible pathway. It is often even a commercial advantage: your clients want to reduce their own scope 3, of which your emissions are a part.
This pathway is also what your assessors look at. How EcoVadis judges your carbon measures and reporting is detailed in our article on the carbon footprint in your EcoVadis score.
Build your pathway with Ditto
Reduction cannot be improvised: you have to connect the measurement, the actions and the target on a single roadmap, and track the gap each year. Ditto starts from your footprint, brings out the priority categories, structures your action plan and tracks your pathway over time. To inspire you, Ditto provides a library of reduction actions, available during your projects: you see what other companies have put in place, in your sector and beyond, and you start from concrete cases rather than a blank page. A dedicated coach teaches you the method so you can run it yourself in the next cycle. And to get started, a platform like Ditto saves time, but a well-built footprint and three priority actions already carry more weight than a target announced without a plan.
Set a credible reduction pathway
A Ditto expert helps you prioritize your actions and frame a science-based target.
Reducing your carbon footprint: key takeaways
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| Measure | Carbon footprint to reveal the biggest categories |
| Prioritize | Cross the weight of the category with the effort to act (80/20 logic) |
| Target | Quantified, dated, science-based (often 2030) |
| Pathway | Frame it via the SBTi: short term (5-10 years) then net zero (-90% by 2050) |
| Tracking | Build through iterations, measure the gap each year, adjust the plan |
Frequently asked questions
What are the levers to reduce your carbon footprint?
They depend on your emissions profile: energy sufficiency and efficiency, modal shift and transport optimization, supplier choice and eco-design on purchasing, reducing the impact of products in use and at end of life. The biggest reduction opportunities are often in scope 3.
What is the SBTi?
The Science Based Targets initiative, the international initiative that validates companies' climate targets against science, based on the work of the IPCC and the IEA. It distinguishes short-term targets (5 to 10 years) and net-zero targets (by 2050 at the latest).
How do you set a 2030 reduction target?
By defining a dated percentage reduction consistent with international climate pathways, from your reference year. The SBTi provides the framework so that it is science-based, rather than a figure chosen at random.
What is the difference between a short-term target and net zero?
The short-term (near-term) target sets a reduction over the next 5 to 10 years and covers at least 95% of scopes 1 and 2 (plus a scope 3 target if scope 3 exceeds 40% of the total). The net-zero target goes further: reduce emissions across the whole value chain by at least 90% by 2050, then neutralize the remainder through permanent removals. The short term is a mandatory step toward net zero.
Can an SME commit to an SBTi pathway?
Yes, the SBTi provides a dedicated route for SMEs, simpler than the path for large groups. It is often a commercial advantage, because your customers want to reduce their own scope 3, of which your emissions are a part.
