Since 2014, Spanish companies can obtain a carbon footprint certificate. Through the Ministry for Ecological Transition and if the requirements are met, the company will obtain a seal that shows the commitment of the same for the reduction of CO2 emissions and the fight against climate change.
What is the carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint is an indicator that reflects greenhouse gases emitted directly or indirectly by an organization, individual or product.
An organization’s carbon footprint: Includes all greenhouse gas emissions over a year. This allows successive periods to be recorded to verify that actions to reduce these emissions are effective.
Carbon footprint of products or services: All greenhouse gas emissions generated during the product life cycle are computed.
Individual carbon footprint: This would include energy used at home, fuel for displacement, etc.
Carbon footprint is a topical issue and it is very easy to see how the advertising of many companies has turned towards promoting their commitment to the environment and not so much to promoting their products.
At the product level, for example in a supermarket, we can find more and more the label Km.0, which although not officially related to the seal we talk about, It does matter because this label certifies that these products have been obtained locally and have traveled a few kilometers to reach the supermarket, thus reducing the emission of gases originated by transport.
On an individual level, same thing. There is a growing emphasis on individual action, such as advice on reducing energy consumption, promoting the use of public transport or the introduction of photovoltaic energy in homes.
Carbon footprint recording, compensation and carbon dioxide absorption projects.
To put it briefly, this seal is a voluntary register in which both companies (legal persons) or self-employed generating greenhouse gas emissions as well as natural or legal persons who own CO2 absorption projects. The registration, as already mentioned in the introduction, is carried out through the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
Stages of the seal:
First stage: Calculation
Obtaining the seal does not imply that the company has reduced emissions, since the first level of this seal is to calculate the emissions that occur over a year.
Once the emissions are calculated, the reduction targets and the measures to be implemented to achieve this reduction must be considered.
This calculation corresponds to levels 1 and 2, which covers both direct and indirect emissions and can be performed by the companies themselves. For level 3, which includes indirect emissions such as subcontracted transport or business travel, external verification is necessary.
Second phase: I reduce
Once the measures to reduce emissions have been implemented, and after the time necessary to make the comparison, it will be possible to obtain the seal of “reduce”, which does reflect that the emissions have been reduced.
This seal can be relevant when participating in public tenders, since it no longer only demonstrates that the company is involved in reducing its emissions but has also taken measures and reduced them.
Third phase: Compendium
The final phase of the seal would be the “compendium” phase. This level would be achieved through carbon dioxide absorption projects.
At Grupo Relesa we have been working for a long time to obtain this seal, because we are aware of the problem of climate change and we have already carried out the first of the three steps we have explained above. Therefore, we already possess the “calculus” seal. The next step is to set goals and implement measures to reduce the business group’s carbon footprint, thus contributing to the fight against climate change.
