“It’s been 5 years since we embarked on this journey. When our clients ask for supply chain impact reports, we’re ready for them.”
Courtney Agencies is a Vancouver-based customs broker and international freight forwarder that works with clients to move goods to and from anywhere in the world.
What gets measured, gets managed
In 2019, Courtney Agencies developed a social purpose statement that guides its conduct and decision-making. It was soon followed by a review of all its activities from a sustainability lens, including social and environmental impact.
Courtney calculated the baseline of greenhouse gas emissions for scopes 1, 2 and 3 for its operations. For the next few years, the team took on the challenge of reducing its footprint through a number of measures including:
- Reducing business travel and employing more technology to conduct business from a distance;
- Digitizing their business and drastically reducing paper-use;
- Switching to low-energy lighting;
- Going to lengths to recycle office equipment in a way that benefits others;
- Creating a food composting program before their building had one; and
- Sourcing green promotional materials to lessen their load on the landfill.
Great news! Measuring emissions leads to reducing emissions!
Courtney Agencies reduced its operation-level emissions by a whopping 43% in just 5 years. They are at the point where they can’t reduce any more carbon with current technology, so all remaining emissions are off-set, making Courtney carbon-neutral.
The next phase for Courtney is to work with transportation vendors to reduce the environmental impact of its shipping. As a start, in 2023, Courtney baselined and off-set all emissions related to the shipments it arranged.
After a rigorous assessment process, in 2022 Courtney became a certified B Corporation and, with thousands of other B Corps, is recognized as a “for-profit business that is committed to using its business as a force for good.”
Why Carbonhound?
Courtney moved the carbon calculation function to Carbonhound in 2023 after their original carbon partner was sold to a big bank. Courtney is a small- to medium-sized enterprise and sees itself as part of a community of “do better” businesses. The closeness it seeks is well-met by the Carbonhound approach.
“This has been a relatively seamless move. The team at Carbonhound is accessible, knowledgeable and open to learning and accommodating the unique characteristics of our industry.”
Robin Sauvé, Sustainability Manager
How does Carbonhound help Courtney Agencies reach its sustainability goals?
As Courtney continues to make bold strides towards reducing their carbon footprint, Carbonhound works with them to generate high-integrity climate data that they can rely on to measure and communicate their lessening impact.
The team at Carbonhound helps them to understand their operations to know where their emissions come from, upload their usage data with ease, and review their inputs so that they feel confident in their climate reporting. The integrity of reporting is very important to Courtney clients for their own supply chain reporting.
Flexible reporting options, a new tool to keep their emission factors up-to-date, and access to a team of climate experts helps Courtney to feel confident in their climate reporting, meet quick deadlines, and continue to be a sustainability leader.
