NEWS
16 March 2023
Carbon Footprint: Mori 2A calculates its ecological impact
The most widely used tool for companies to quantify and report on climate-changing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, i.e. those with an effect on climate change, generated directly or indirectly by their activities is the so-called Organisational Carbon Footprint.
The origin of the term stems from the concept of Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA), the environmental accounting system developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees in the early 1990s at the University of British Columbia that allows translating the annual consumption of a given person, community or nation into the “virtual hectares” of land that would be required to produce them in a sustainable manner.
The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement signed by more than 180 countries in 1997, subsequently stipulated that the greenhouse gases to be included in the calculation of the Carbon Footprint should be the following
- carbon dioxide (CO2);
- methane (CH4);
- nitrous oxide (N2O);
- hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
- perfluorocarbons (PFCs);
- sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
The measure used is therefore expressed in terms of tonnes of CO2 if only carbon dioxide is considered, or CO2 equivalent if emissions of other climate-altering gases are also included in the estimate.
Mori 2A has chosen to implement an organisation’s Carbon Footprint calculation to determine the environmental impacts related to its activities along the value chain. Identifying the most critical areas allowed the definition of an intervention plan to mitigate or compensate (net carbon neutrality) the effects through a carbon management system.
The entire process of creating the Mori 2A Organisation Carbon Footprint was guided by the decision to put transparency first, both in terms of reporting and in terms of identifying, quantifying and verifying emissions. This will enable the company to disclose sufficient and appropriate information about its CFO to stakeholders who may be interested.
Carbon Footprint Phase 1. Emissions Inventory
The first phase consisted of structuring an emissions inventory in accordance with the UNI Standard ISO14064:1-2019, which describes the principles and requirements for the design, development, management and reporting of an organisation’s GHG inventories.
The categories identified are as follows:
a) Direct GHG emissions and removals | Scope 1;
b) Indirect GHG emissions from imported energy | Scope 2;
c) Indirect GHG emissions from transport | Scope 3;
d) Indirect GHG emissions from products used by the organisation | Scope 3;
e) Indirect GHG emissions from the use of products made by the organisation | Scope 3;
f) Indirect GHG emissions from other sources | Scope 3;
Each organisation has the option of choosing whether to include only direct emissions (Scope 1), or also emissions from the withdrawal of electricity (Scope 2) or indirect emissions, i.e. emissions generated throughout the supply chain (Scope 3), in the scope of measurement.
Although it is optional, Mori 2A has chosen to include the so-called Scope 3 emissions in the calculation in addition to the (mandatory) Scope a. and b. emissions, in order to be able to have the most complete analysis possible of the impacts of the organisation’s activities. With a view to continuous improvement, the data collection systems will also be progressively improved to ensure that the information collected is constantly updated and monitored.
Each of the identified categories can subsequently be broken down into individual items to better account for and represent the activity’s emissions. Omissions are permitted in the reporting of the inventory if the emission sources are negligible and therefore not relevant or not quantifiable; however, for each excluded item, Mori 2A has indicated the relevant reason in the comments.
Carbon Footprint Phase 2. Data Collection Plan
The second phase is the collection of data as identified within the inventory. The data collected were classified on the basis of different parameters:
Type of data: Measured / Estimated
Frequency of data collection: Monthly / Annual / Other
Source of the data: Source of the data (meters, invoices, etc)
In addition, the following roles are clearly defined:
Data collection manager: Reference person for the collected data
Responsible for validating the data: Reference person for validating the data
Carbon Footprint Phase 3. Data Analysis
The third phase consists of analysing the collected data. To quantify the emissions, the method based on the multiplication of the “GHG activity data” that quantifies the activity (e.g. energy consumption, km travelled by logistics…) and the corresponding “GHG emission factor” was used. The emission factors were taken from open databases available in the European context.
The reference period used was the calendar year 2021.
Last Phase: Mitigation and Goals
The last phase corresponds to the planning of actions to reduce activity-related environmental impacts. Mori 2A has chosen to identify the actions to be taken by adopting two key concepts:
Mitigation, that is, acting directly on the source of the emission to make the impacts of climate change less severe by preventing or decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For this reason, a UNI CEI EN ISO 50001 certified Energy Management System (EMS) has been in place at both plants for years.
To underline the importance given to the rational and optimised use of energy, the first of the three pillars of the company’s sustainability strategy is summarised in the motto Energy Efficiency First. The use of consumables is also the subject of an optimisation plan, and the purchasing department rewards choices that favour the strengthening of the circular economy.
Compensation, which means balancing the amount of emissions generated by any activity through interventions capable of absorbing them. Important land-related interventions are being planned and will be implemented in the coming months.
Mori 2A’s ultimate goal is to achieve net carbon neutrality, i.e. zero climate impact, in the near future through planned, systematic and monitored activities.
For any information on our Carbon Footprint, please contact our QHSE System and Sustainability department at aurora.bosio@mori2a.com.