Are you a company looking to reduce your CO2 emissions? Carbon offsetting is one of the solutions to consider. Offsetting your carbon footprint means putting in place a set of actions designed to limit your organization's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It may be difficult to achieve carbon neutrality, but you can do something about it!
In this article, we tell you all you need to know about carbon offsetting: how to apply it in your business, which green projects to invest in and how to optimize your travel to effectively reduce your CO2 emissions 🌿.
What is carbon offsetting?
Carbon offsetting consists of offsetting a company's carbon emissions with equivalent ecological actions. It refers to the action of financing one or more environmentally-friendly projects with an activity that limits greenhouse gas emissions: tree-planting projects, financing renewable energies to contribute to development, etc.
Carbon offsetting can also be achieved within your company, by choosing a green electricity supplier or optimizing means of transport.
What are the CO2 emissions by sector?
To make the best decisions for your company, you need to know the CO2 emissions by sector, both nationally and worldwide. This will help you to situate your company, and to become aware of the changes you need to make.
Here's a global estimate of CO2 emissions, based on an average for each country.
Energy, with the production of heat and electricity, around 25%
Agriculture, around 24%
Industry, around 21%
Various energy production, approx.10%
Construction, about 6%
Is your company based in France? The sectors that emit the most carbon emissions are the following.
Transport, with around 41% of the total
Energy and its production with around 21%
Industry and construction with around 13%
CO2 emissions by mode of transport: how can you adapt?
Would you like to make a commitment to optimizing your staff's travel, shipping and goods transport by reducing your carbon footprint?
In the interests of environmental responsibility and sustainable management, low-carbon means of transport are essential today. So, what steps should you take to adjust your company's organization in terms of CO2 emissions?
The first is to take the time to find out about the CO2 emissions of each mode of transport.
Then you'll be able to identify the most suitable modes of transport for your business, so you can make an effective contribution to reducing your carbon footprint.
Road haulage (goods and passenger transport): 74%
Plane: 12
Boat: 11
Train: 3% of revenue
To limit CO2 emissions from transport, you can, depending on your activity, give priority to car-pooling, or work with a responsible company for the transport of goods. If you'd like to find out more about how to adapt your business to CO2 emissions, read our dedicated article!
Discover CO2 emissions by country
We also advise you to take an interest in the CO2 emissions of each country. This will enable you to identify which countries are most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, and act accordingly.
Here are the countries with the highest CO2 emissions worldwide.
China with almost 10 billion tonnes of CO2, due to its many exports and dependence on coal
The United States, with 4.5 million tonnes of CO2
India, with 2.3 billion tonnes of CO2
What about Europe? Germany tops the list, and with good reason: its dependence on coal!
In France, we still use nuclear energy, which does not emit carbon into the atmosphere. To do something about these CO2 emissions, it's essential to change your company's habits and target your actions at the right place.
For example, by contributing to the financing of renewable energies, favoring sustainable modes of transport, optimizing your energy consumption and raising your teams' awareness of environmental protection.
Offsetting your company's aircraft carbon footprint
If your company organizes seminars or regular meetings that require travel within the country and sometimes even around the world, think about carbon offsetting your airplane ✈️!
Indeed, we all know that air travel is highly polluting: the carbon footprint of air travel is 285g of CO2 per person per kilometer.
So, if your meetings can be held remotely, give preference to video calls wherever possible. And when you can, organize travel by train, especially for short journeys, or by carpooling if the destination allows.
If air travel is your only option for getting to your destination, choose newer, less-polluting aircraft and take economy class to limit your GHG emissions.
Finally, choose a direct flight and travel with as little luggage as possible!
How can a hotel reduce its carbon footprint?
Do you run a hotel and want to opt for more sustainable solutions? The levers are based on the implementation of step-by-step solutions and precise objectives to be achieved, without compromising the comfort of your customers.
To achieve this, it's important that you first understand the sources of pollution in a hotel 🏨.
These represent :
employees' daily commutes to and from work
the car issue that belongs to the hotel
energy supply (electricity and gas)
purchasing goods and services for customers, such as food, supplies, bed linen, etc
To reduce electricity, heating and gas costs, you can carry out an assessment of the hotel's infrastructure and implement appropriate solutions, such as using a green electricity supplier, a local/organic food supplier or an eco-responsible linen supplier.
Calculate your company's carbon footprint to take the right action
To make sure you're heading in the right direction, there's nothing more effective than carrying out a carbon footprint calculation. To comply with current regulations, or for any company with fewer than 500 employees wishing to develop a more responsible business, here's how to do it.
The carbon footprint calculation takes into account all the greenhouse gas emissions generated by your business. It also takes into account what you buy, what you use to run your business and how you travel. These data are analyzed over a 12-month period. There are two approaches to calculating a company's carbon footprint:
monetary, i.e. in kgCO2e/€, which allows you to calculate your carbon emissions based on your expenses
physical, i.e. in kgCO2e/km, which enables you to complete your CO2 balance sheet with an analysis of data that cannot be summed up in expenses
Our tips for implementing corporate carbon offsetting
Before taking the plunge into corporate carbon offsetting, we recommend that you carry out a GHG assessment, which will enable you to see where you stand and identify the efforts you need to make as a priority. Once your assessment has been carried out, take the time to discuss the various possibilities, so as to put in place an effective action plan to reduce your company's carbon emissions.
In addition to the actions you implement within the company (changing transportation methods, opting for a sustainable electricity or gas supplier, etc.), you could consider investing in a corporate carbon offset project, such as a renewable energy, plantation or reforestation project.
Select the right projects to finance, so that they match your company's values. We recommend that you give priority to offset projects certified by recognized standards such as VCS and Gold Standard.
You can also call on the services of a specialized intermediary to help you with the steps you need to take to achieve a truly effective corporate carbon offset.
Involve your employees as much as possible in the process to encourage commitment and awareness.
And don't forget to measure your results 📈 !
Business travel carbon barometer 2022
While carbon neutrality is a fundamental issue for companies, transparency on carbon consumption data is still limited. That's why we've created the first carbon barometer for business travel.
The aim is to provide companies of all sizes and in all sectors with a benchmark against which they can compare their carbon expenditure.
Thanks to this method, you can find out whether your carbon emissions linked to travel are higher or lower than the average for your field of activity. Want to find out more? Click here!
Our selection of the best companies for carbon offsetting
Discover our selection of the best companies committed to carbon offsetting, so you can invest in a sustainable future.
Climate Care, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 million tonnes by 2025
Eco-act, which has been offering decarbonization strategies for over 15 years
Forest Carbon, which has planted more than 9.5 million new trees in numerous forests across the UK, helping to remove more than 1,900,000 tonnes of CO2 from the global atmosphere
Atmosfair, 90% of whose projects adhere to the CDM Gold Standard, one of the most stringent standards for climate protection projects
First Climate, which focuses on products and services related to carbon neutrality, renewable energy sources, water management and the development of sustainable projects
South Pole, which guides companies towards innovative sustainable solutions, with over 700 projects in 40 different countries
Carbon Sink, which helps companies find suitable solutions with projects focused mainly on Italy
Promethium Carbon, carbon neutral since 2007, helps its customers by proposing best practices to reduce their carbon impact
Calculate the carbon footprint of your business trips with this simple tool
To track and account for the carbon emissions associated with your company's travel, we have developed a free carbon footprint calculator. This simple, customizable tool will enable you to organize business trips with a reduced carbon impact, and therefore more environmentally-friendly travel.
Now that you know how to set up a corporate carbon offset scheme, all that's left is to define your own, with actions and projects tailored to your values ✅!
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