Carbon Footprint
Any organisation that wants to be competitive should focus its activity on calculating, reducing or compensating its Carbon Footprint.
The Carbon Footprint represents the calculation of GHG emissions associated with organisations, events or activities, or the life cycle of a product, in order to determine its contribution to climate change, expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Various specific methodologies have been developed for calculating the Carbon Footprint of an organisation, product or event, depending on the commitments made by the organisation in terms of calculating, offsetting or reducing GHG emissions.
Benefits of Carbon Footprint Verification
- Positive impact on the environmental image of the organisation, demonstrating its commitment to the fight against climate change.
- Control of the emissions generated and the sources of emissions, which allows effective measures to be taken to reduce climate change and to control and identify opportunities for cost savings and opportunities to access new markets.
- It responds to the new demands of customers and investors regarding the environmental commitments they expect from their suppliers, offering public, truthful and reliable information in a market that values more sustainable companies and products.
- It reduces operating costs by improving energy efficiency.
Carbon Footprint Verification with EQA
EQA is accredited as a Greenhouse Gas Verifier to carry out verifications of carbon footprint calculation.
EQA guarantees the accuracy of the verified data, ensuring a transparent and consistent verification process.
With the calculated Carbon Footprint and a reduction commitment you can register your organisation in the Ministry’s Carbon Footprint Register.
Verification Certificate
For registration in the register, in addition to the calculation, a certificate of verification of the calculation is required for the following cases:
- Carbon Footprints in scope 3.
- Carbon Footprints in scope 1+2 of organisations that are not considered SMEs.
- Carbon Footprints that do not have a simplified calculation system published by the Spanish Climate Change Office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Carbon Footprint Register
Within the context of the reduction of GHG emissions, Royal Decree 163/2014 has been approved to encourage the calculation and reduction of the Carbon Footprint by Spanish organisations, as well as to promote projects that improve Spain’s sink capacity, facilitating compliance with the international and EU commitments made by Spain on climate change.
In this sense, the registry of carbon footprint, offsetting and CO2 absorption projects is created, which consists of 3 sections:
- Carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments section.
- CO2 absorption projects section.
- Carbon footprint offsetting section.
Who can register in the Register?
According to Royal Decree 163/2014, the following can be registered in the Register:
- Legal entities or self-employed persons that carry out an economic activity and are generators of GHG emissions, with activity in the national territory that, on a voluntary basis, calculate their carbon footprint, carry out activities aimed at its reduction and/or offset their emissions.
- Individuals or legal entities that voluntarily carry out and are owners of CO2 absorption projects located anywhere in the national territory.
What emissions must be considered for registration in the Carbon Footprint and GHG Emission Reduction Commitments Section?
Registration in the Carbon Footprint calculation and reduction section will be carried out for:
- Scope 1 (mandatory): Emissions from direct sources, such as those generated by company-owned vehicles, fossil fuel combustion, etc.
- Scope 2 (mandatory): Indirect source emissions associated with emissions from electricity generation purchased and consumed by the organisation.
- Scope 3 (voluntary): Indirect emissions from the supply or service chain, such as production of purchased materials, waste disposal, employee travel, etc.
More information on Carbon Footprint registration.
Calculate Carbon Footprint
Stages on which the Carbon Footprint is based to mitigate Climate Change:
- Measure (HC Calculated): calculating the Carbon Footprint with internationally recognised benchmarks, determining the tonnes of CO2 obtained.
- Reduce (HC Reduced): calculation of the Carbon Footprint with internationally recognised benchmarks, demonstrating (organisation / product) the reduction of its emissions compared to the previous period.
- Offset (HC Offset): calculation of the Carbon Footprint with internationally recognised benchmarks and the resulting tonnes of CO2 are cancelled with CER’s (Certified Emission Reductions) or VER’s (Verified Emission Reductions).
More information about Carbon Footprint calculation.
Contact us for more information on Carbon Footprinting
Certificación de Calidad