Commitment to sustainability also plays an important role for other stakeholders investors analyze climate risks in their portfolios, buyers make strict specifications regarding the ecological balance of the delivered goods, and shareholders expect compliance with demanding environmental and climate protection standards. Customers are increasingly demanding environmentally friendly products and services, and these aspects are making a growing impact on buying decisions. Moreover, it also affects the external impact of companies and how they are perceived by different stakeholders. On a corporate level, carbon footprints are an important measure for the further development of commitment to sustainability. The External Impacts: Carbon Footprints and Stakeholder Relations Consequently, carbon footprints are financially important, since target-oriented savings in energy and other resources can sustainably reduce a company’s operational costs.Īs part of entrepreneurial strategies for climate and resource protection, carbon footprints also provide the basis for formulating well-founded reduction targets and are therefore an important element of sustainability management. The global warming potential of some of these are significantly higher than that of CO2 – in the case of Methane, by a factor of 21 and in the case of sulphur hexafluoride, by a factor 22,800.įor companies that want to become committed to sustainability, carbon footprints are a vital instrument for evaluating their climate impact and are therefore a central component of life cycle assessments and sustainability reporting.Ĭarbon footprints show companies the areas that produce greenhouse gases and where the greatest potential lies for energy savings and efficiency measures.
These gases are methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), Fluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons and Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). Normally, carbon footprints are calculated in what is known as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which includes five other greenhouse gases alongside carbon dioxide, which are named in the Kyoto Protocol. A carbon footprint can also calculate many more activities and processes, such as hotel stays, business travel, an event, or the provision of specific services. Products can also have a carbon footprint that provides a sum of the emissions that stem from the manufacture, use, recycling, and disposal of the respective product.
A carbon footprint can be specific, for example, for business or production processes in companies. It gives a breakdown of what volumes of greenhouse gas emissions are released through an activity, a process, or a service. Carbon Footprints as a Basis for Emission ReductionsĬarbon footprints are the result of emissions calculations, including carbon dioxide.
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