HOW DO WE CALCULATE OUR CLIMATE COMPENSATION?

UW-ELAST has chosen to follow the calculation method recommended in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol developed by WRI (World Resources Institute) and WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development).

The standard was developed, among other things, for the purpose of:

  • Help companies calculate their greenhouse gas emissions in a true and fair way by using standardized calculation methods
  • Make it easier for companies to carry out their emissions inventory
  • Provide companies with information that can be used to strategically reduce greenhouse gas emissions

A COMPANY’S CLIMATE IMPACT IS DIVIDED INTO 3 DIFFERENT SCOPES

Scope 1: Direct greenhouse gas emissions from operations

The system boundary is here set around the direct operations (the owned producing units) and studies from stationary and mobile sources as well as process emissions are studied from the operations. Accidental emissions are also taken into account, such as leakage of f-gases.

Scope 2: Greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity consumption

Scope 2 also takes into account the emissions that occur at the source that creates the electricity the business consumes. This discharge can thus take place geographically far from the business.

Scope 3: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions outside the business

Scope 3 does not have strict definitions of what is to be included in the climate impact, but here the indirect emissions such as takes place at the business’s subcontractors and through transports to and from the business, i.e. the emissions that occur outside the company’s ownership and control.

The ambition here is to capture the entire total impact that the business has on the climate.

It is not uncommon for the largest emissions of greenhouse gases to occur outside the business.

Emissions of greenhouse gases are counted as the total climate impact of the 6 greenhouse gases mentioned in the Kyoto Protocol – carbon dioxide CO2, methane gas CH4, nitrous oxide N2O, hydrofluorocarbons HFCs, perfluorocarbons PFCs, sulfur hexafluoride SF6. These gases are converted to their corresponding carbon dioxide equivalents which are then summed. In this way, we can get an overall picture of the business’ climate impact.

With 2018 as the reference year, we see that our efforts yield clear and positive results. Between 2018 and 2020, we have reduced our total climate footprint to 83%.

Here is a summary of UW-ELAST’s total climate impact from 2018 to 2023.