The goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. But even if we meet that target, we're still facing a future of droughts, food shortages, and mass displacement due to climate change.

The first step to mitigating the damage is to stop making things worse. That means reducing our carbon emissions, and that's where businesses come in.

Data centers, for example, account for about 1.8 percent of global emissions. And a study conducted by Purdue University found that video conferencing platforms are major polluters, too. They produce up to 1kg of CO2 and use up to 12L of freshwater per hour of use per participant.

There are things businesses can do to offset these harms. Here are three small things that can make a big difference.

1. Switch to environmentally friendly hosting providers

2. Use peer-to-peer video conferencing

3. Commit to using search engines that do good for the planet

Green hosting services

Switching to an environmentally friendly hosting provider is a great way to offset the carbon emissions from data centers. GreenGeeks, for example, is a carbon-neutral web hosting company. Its hosting platform has been designed with a maximum use, no waste of resources mindset.

Every aspect of the hosting platform is built to be as energy efficient as possible. In addition to this, for every amperage it pulls from the grid, GreenGeeks matches three times that in the form of renewable energy via the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

Low-energy video conferencing

Servers produce up to 1kg of CO2 and use up to 12L of freshwater per hour of use per participant. Crewdle removes the need for any of that impact.

Using a peer-to-peer video conferencing tool like Crewdle can also help reduce the server usage associated with video callings. Crewdle uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver video calls, making it less damaging for the environment.

Crewdle is the first carbon-neutral video communication service provider in the world. Video conferencing is a significant polluter, so using a tool like Crewdle can make a big difference, especially as the world turns increasingly to remote and hybrid work.

Search for good

Committing to using a search engine that does good for the planet is another great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Ecosia, for example, is a search engine that plants trees.

Each time you search the web with Ecosia, the search ads generate income for Ecosia and Ecosia uses this income to plant trees. At the time of writing, Ecosia has planted 162,216,108 trees around the world.

What is big tech doing?

Big tech companies are also making big strides to offset their environmental impact. Facebook, for example, recently announced that it had reached net zero emissions. The social network said emissions had been cut by 94 percent in three years, and the company is aiming for net zero across its supply chain by 2030.

Apple has also announced a goal to become carbon neutral by 2030, counting not only its entire supply chain but the lifecycle of all its products, including the energy consumed in their use. It will plant trees to absorb carbon equal to the estimated lifetime carbon emissions of the electricity used to charge iPhones.

And Google is carbon neutral for its operations, but it is aiming even higher. Google's goal is to run on carbon-free energy, 24/7, at all of its data centers by 2030.

We can all make a difference

Making small changes to the services we use can make a big difference. So if you're a business owner, consider switching to an environmentally friendly hosting provider, using a peer-to-peer video conferencing tool, and committing to using a search engine that does good for the planet. It's a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and do your part to mitigate the damage caused by climate change.