Why we account for CO₂ emissions

CO₂ accounting in a small service company

When people think of a CO₂ inventory, they usually think first of manufacturing companies or energy intensive industries. As a service company, this quickly raises the question of whether the effort is really necessary. Our answer is a clear yes.

Even before preparing a carbon inventory, we had already tried to act as consciously as possible. For example, we implemented various reduction measures. One example is our no flight policy for domestic travel. In addition, we have continuously supported offsetting projects in order to compensate for emissions beyond that. Even so, both reduction and offsetting lacked a data driven foundation without carbon accounting, and that is exactly what the inventory now provides.

In addition, our ongoing B Corp certification process plays an important role, as emissions accounting is a central aspect in the assessment of sustainable corporate governance. Professor Andreas Luczak, Professor of Sustainable Energy Technologies at the University of Applied Sciences in Kiel, supported us in planning and conducting our carbon accounting and contributed his extensive expertise in this field.

Systematizing our efforts through carbon accounting

In order to further develop our existing activities, we decided to systematize them in a targeted and comprehensive way through CO₂ accounting. At the core, we are pursuing three objectives:

1. Gaining clarity:

We want to show in a transparent and traceable way in which areas emissions occur and to what extent.

2. Reducing in a targeted way:

Based on these insights, effective measures can be taken. Carbon accounting makes it possible to determine in which areas our room for action or the effect on emissions is limited and in which areas measures are especially worthwhile.

3. Creating accountability:

By defining concrete goals and timelines, our commitment to sustainable development remains measurable and verifiable. This also applies to the offsetting of remaining emissions.

Our first inventory for 2023 and the goals that follow from it:

For the year 2023, we have now completed a full CO₂ inventory that provides us with valuable insights into our sources of emissions. On this basis, we can derive further targeted measures in order to reduce and offset even more effectively in the future. Transparency is particularly important to us, as it encourages exchange with other organizations, our clients, and the public. For this reason, we have decided to disclose our results, methodology, and conclusions:

In addition, the following goals emerge for the coming years:

Annual reduction: We have set ourselves the goal of causing 10 percent fewer total emissions each year.

Offsetting: In addition, we will offset all emissions from Scope 1 and Scope 2 each year, which we have already done for 2023.

We are currently preparing the carbon inventory for 2024 and are looking forward to the results.