How are you part of the problem? How can we all be part of the solution?
The history behind the carbon footprint is actually rather questionable. It came about when British Petroleum (BP), the second-largest non-state-owned oil company in the world with 18,700 gas and service stations worldwide, hired public relations professionals Ogilvy & Mather to promote the narrative that climate change is not the fault of oil giants, but that of individuals. It was during this process that BP first promoted and soon successfully popularized the term "carbon footprint." In 2004, the company unveiled its "carbon footprint calculator" so individuals could assess how their normal daily activities, such as going to work, buying food, and traveling, contribute to global warming.
Today, BP and other oil companies cannot hide behind individual footprints. However, the concept of carbon footprint has lived on as a useful exercise for companies and individuals to understand how they contribute to the problem and how they can become part of the solution. Many today prefer the term “climate footprint” as it indicates that different kinds of greenhouse gases are taken into account.
What are scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
A climate footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product. It is calculated by summing the emissions resulting from every stage of a product or service's lifetime (material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life). Emissions are divided in to 3 scopes depending on where the emissions occur.
Scope 1: direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources. For example, the fuel from a company vehicle, and the processing emissions from on-site manufacturing such as fermentation or the refrigerants in your air conditioning.
Scope 2: indirect emissions from the generation of your purchased energy. This is the electricity that keeps your lights on, powers the kettle for a cup of tea and maybe even charges your electric vehicle.
Scope 3: all the indirect emissions not included in scope 2 that make up your companies operations. Think everything from how your employees get to work, any business travel they go on all the way to the products and services you buy or sell. It's a long, but crucial list as this is where 60-90% of your emissions come from.
Image: Zevero
Calculating climate footprints are most often done according to Greenhouse Gas Protocol standards. Estimating emissions however can be a complex task - especially in Scope 3. We therefore highly recommend that one uses a third party provider that specialises in footprint calculations. Some of the most trusted companies offering these services and that can also support you in your decarbonisation journey are Normative, Plan A, Patch, Sweep and Watershed.
Climate footprint examples
In this section, we offer 3 case studies from the Northzone family that have estimated their climate footprints: