Beam’s sustainability plan scoots along

The company behind the purple e-scooters is going beyond climate neutral.

Shared scooters have taken off – if you’ll pardon the pun – in a big way in cities across Australia. Riders may choose them for convenience, but for one micromobility brand, there’s another benefit too – climate neutral certification.

Beam, which operates shared e-scooters in 16 cities around Australia, is the only shared micromobility operator in Australia and New Zealand to be climate neutral certified by nonprofit Climate Neutral.

Climate neutral certification means a company has taken steps to measure its carbon footprint, offset it and reduce ongoing emissions.

Beam has been certified climate neutral since 2019, and Beam’s general manager (ANZ) Tom Cooper said it was important to the company to make that commitment and be accountable both internally and externally.

“Climate neutral certification gives formal reassurance to our riders that they are using a mode of transport that is clearly better for the environment. And in the world of greenwashing, having that formal third-party independent certification is a big differentiator for us,” he told Pro Bono News in a statement.

He said Beam’s research showed a “growing” proportion of riders were choosing to use e-scooters for their environmental benefits, with 75 per cent of regular riders saying they were using their car less now that they had access to the two-wheeled rides.

Beam goes further

For organisations looking to become climate neutral certified, Climate Neutral provides resources to help measure their carbon emissions.

The calculation produces a figure, which is the carbon required to be offset to receive certification.

In order to offset its carbon emissions, which were measured in accordance with Climate Neutral’s standards to total 18,103 tonnes, Beam looked outside its value chain. 

Beam gained $220,857 in carbon credits by taking measures like investing in projects that avoid deforestation, and those that support solar energy and biomass generation.

The company is now implementing a Reduction Action Plan to reduce emissions in its own operations and supply chain into the future and has also pledged to go carbon negative by 2025 – meaning it will go beyond net zero, and remove additional carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Beam’s roadmap to becoming carbon negative will include reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere by encouraging modal shift onto Climate Neutral alternatives, investing over $150,000 into identifying a globally-recognised standard for measuring the positive carbon impact of modal transfer and assisting mobility platforms to measure and report on carbon impact of modal shifts, and investing in new technology to reduce the reliance on carbon in its operations,” Cooper explained.

Leading good business

Cooper said Beam felt it had a responsibility to be a leader in good business practice, which was why it made the decision to go climate negative.

“As micromobility is still an emerging industry, we feel a responsibility to lead the conversation in how micromobility can play a part in climate discussions in a city,” he said.

Earlier this year, Beam launched a Micromobility Research Partnership which will bring together academics from around the region to research sustainable transport options.

The researchers will identify and promote ways to reduce global transport emissions and the impact, value and use of micromobility. Some of the research will involve collaboration with riders.

“We see a responsibility to also share our work with our industry colleagues, education and community partners and collaborators and see it as important to be playing an active role in the world transitioning to a lower-carbon economy,” Cooper said.

To find out more about Beam’s environmental commitments, visit the company’s website.