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What is a corporate carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint, or GHG footprint, is “The CO2 footprint (or carbon footprint) is a quantification of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by a company’s activities. A company’s balance sheet includes energy and heating consumption, mobility and transport, waste and office automation, all converted into CO2 equivalents” (Climate Services).
But how do you carry out this assessment?
Let’s take a simple example: if I consume 1000 kWh, and I want to know the carbon impact of this consumption, I simply multiply these 1000 kWh by 128g of Co2. This gives me an impact of 128kg of Co2. Now that’s simple! Getting the 128g figure is more complicated 🙂 To arrive at this figure, the FOEN compiled numerous studies.
For your company, there’s no need to worry about this: carbon assessment tools integrate these emission factors, which are regularly updated.
Why establish a corporate carbon footprint?
Doing a carbon footprint, in itself, doesn’t do much. But it is essential, because it’s the basis for reducing your GHG emissions.
The Swiss currently emit about 12 metric tons of CO₂ per person per year, which is enormous considering that, to effectively slow climate change, each person would need to generate no more than 0.6 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year. Switzerland—all of its cantons, businesses, and individuals—everyone has a role to play in reducing these figures.
First of all, at the international level, a majority of countries—including Switzerland, of course—have signed the Paris Agreement. This agreement calls on signatory countries to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries are aiming to reach the global peak in greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible in order to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
At the national level, the Swiss Confederation has enacted the CO₂ Act, which aims to reduce its CO₂ emissions by half by 2030. You can track the progress of this indicator, as well as other climate indicators, on the MONET 2030 page.
At the cantonal level, many cantons have adopted ambitious climate plans. For example, Geneva’s plan outlines a “strategy to adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest.”
As reported by RTS: Effective January 1, 2024, large Swiss public-interest companies (with at least 500 full-time employees, CHF 20 million in total assets or CHF 40 million in revenue) must submit an annual climate report as part of their non-financial report (Art. 964a–964c of the Swiss Code of Obligations). They must provide a detailed account of the financial risk that climate change poses to their business, as well as the impact of their business on the climate and the environment. A new federal law on sustainable business management, currently under public consultation, calls for expanding and evolving this framework in the future.
How do you assess your company's carbon footprint?
To carry out this assessment, the ISO 14064 standard must be followed. This standard defines the requirements for calculating, quantifying, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions.
Several tools are available for making this calculation: free tools such as the Good Planet Foundation’s simulator for companies, simplified tools that are free of charge, and comprehensive tools for which a fee is charged, such as the Climate Services platform. Many consultants also offer to carry out carbon assessments for companies.
Once the assessment has been carried out, the most important thing is to identify the actions to be taken to reduce CO2 emissions. This assessment is only the first step in reducing your impact on the environment.
Here are the steps to follow to carry out a corporate carbon footprint:
- Appoint a manager or team to carry out the review.
- Collect the necessary data: it’s important to collect all relevant data concerning the company’s activities. This data can be collected from the company’s various departments, suppliers and customers.
- Analyze the data: once all the data has been collected, it needs to be analyzed to determine the main sources of CO2 emissions.
- Identify opportunities for improvement: once the main sources of emissions have been identified, we need to identify opportunities for improvement in order to reduce CO2 production.
- Putting an action plan in place: Finally, we need to put in place an action plan that will enable us to achieve our emissions reduction targets. This plan must be realistic and achievable, and must take into account all relevant factors. (costs, availability of technologies, etc.).
- Regularly assess progress and adjust the action plan accordingly.
Now you know the theory behind corporate carbon footprinting, it’s up to you to put it into practice.
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