Sustainability

Climate change is defined as the change in the typical weather of a certain geographical area. This change might cause an alteration in the usual temperature of a place or in the regular amount of precipitation. When greenhouse gases (GHG), such as CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, fluorinated gases, etc., are trapped in the atmosphere, they cause an increase in the globe’s temperature resulting in climate change.
Nowadays, climate change is a worldwide phenomenon affecting every geographical area and causing financial burdens to all countries due to its negative effects. One of the most common impacts is the increase in sea level, which leads to coastal erosion and flooding. Other adverse effects of climate change are the migration of species to new places and increase in the extinction rate, and the weakening of sectors depending on precipitation levels and temperature such as tourism, agriculture, and energy.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compose a universal action plan aiming at achieving global sustainable development. These objectives were adopted in September 2015 and are planned to be reached by 2030. There are 17 integrated SDGs affecting each aspect of our way of living and aimed at ensuring improvements from a social, economic, and environmental aspect. Especially, SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns and, it sets targets to decrease the ecological footprint of our way to manufacture and consume goods and resources.

The removal/reduction of carbon gases released into the atmosphere is referred to as decarbonization. Companies’ decarbonization efforts are associated with the calculation of their carbon footprints, defined as the total quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by that company. Hence, decarbonization entails removing and/or reducing their carbon footprint by compensating or decreasing the GHG emissions.

Compensation is a widespread application between companies that desire to reach carbon neutrality. This concept entails reducing the carbon footprint of a firm via buying credits generated by projects aimed at decreasing emissions in another part of the world. Once a company’s carbon footprint has been calculated, some or all of that amount can be neutralized by compensation. This practice supports companies’ decarbonization efforts.

ISO is an organization developing international standards. The “ISO 14064-1:2018 Greenhouse gases-Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals” is a standard used for measurement of GHG emissions emitted at the organizational level. This standard is adopted for the calculation of the carbon footprint of an organization in a reliable way. Compliance with such a certification allows obtaining the related certification via third-party auditing.