Our faith compels us to commit to reducing our carbon footprint and to do our part to realise the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius… Through the Green Village project and other initiatives, the WCC takes very seriously issues of sustainability—something that is most needed in the current context of a climate crisis.
Prof Rev Dr Jerry Pillay, secretary general
The World Council of Churches (hereafter WCC), a fellowship of 352 churches in over 120 countries representing half a billion Christians, is a proud member of the 2050Today initiative. Our faith compels us to commit to reducing our carbon footprint and to do our part to realise the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The WCC has been reflecting on sustainability in relation to poverty since the early 1970s, long before the concept gained currency in international politics and business. At its Assembly in Nairobi in 1975 the WCC called for a “Just, Participatory and Sustainable Society” and helped to catapult the notion of sustainability into the global sphere.
The WCC participated in the United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in the first Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1995. Since then, WCC has attended every COP event, advocating for climate justice and support for poor and vulnerable countries and communities who are least responsible for the climate crisis but suffer its worst effects.
The WCC has produced several resources for our member churches to continue to nurture a care-for-creation ethos. “Roadmap for an Economy of Life and Ecological Justice” and “Walk the Talk” gather concrete examples of how churches can tread gently on, and live justly with people and planet. “Cooler Earth, Higher Benefits” highlights how the banking and investment decisions of churches can promote sustainable pathways. In 2022, the WCC together with UN Environment Programme and other faith partners jointly released a statement on “Climate Responsible Finance” as a moral imperative towards the well-being of children.
At the last General Assembly of the WCC, held in Karlsruhe in 2022, we addressed the climate emergency as a priority for churches. We declared: “The climate emergency is an ethical, moral and spiritual crisis, manifested in a fixation on profit.”
At the 2022 Assembly, the WCC also committed “to reduce its institutional carbon footprint to net-zero by 2030.”
Key to realising this goal is the WCC’s real estate project in Geneva called “Green Village” – the first Geneva property development with the “One Planet Living” (OPL) label. The project will positively impact greenhouse gas emissions by implementing a range of environmentally friendly practices.
The Green Village will provide six new buildings in the municipality of Le Grand-Saconnex, each symbolically bearing the name of a key international treaty in sustainable development: Kyoto, Montreal, Rio, Lima, Durban and Stockholm. All the buildings will be powered by renewable energy, through photovoltaic solar panels and networked energy.
The WCC encourages its employees to use public transportation when commuting to work by offering a public transport subsidy.
The Green Village constructions will respect all the OPL label standards, with priority given to construction materials from the local economy, and those recycled from the existing structures.
We hope to reach the goal of zero waste via an on-site eco-centre and through the policy of waste reuse put forward by the Grand-Saconnex municipality.
2050Today’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measurement methodology follows the GHG Protocol. The Protocol provides standards and guidance for organizations to measure and manage climate-warming emissions. It was created in 1998 through a partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
According to the GHG Protocol, the distribution of emissions is done by scopes:
Scope 1 represents direct emissions linked to the consumption of fossil fuels.
Scope 2 represents indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the reporting company.
Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain (i.e. purchased good or services, business travel, employee commuting).
The 2050Today carbon footprint takes into account the reported emissions generated by the activities of the institution over one year and is divided by categories:
Energy and water
It takes into account the amount of the consumed electricity produced and purchased by the institution. The energy consumed to heat and/or cool the institution’s building area and the consumed water are included as well.
Mobility
It takes into consideration business travels and commuting (on a survey basis).
Food
The CO2 impact of food includes the catering of the institution and individual consumption (on a survey basis) during working hours.
Purchased goods
The perimeter of purchased goods is set to a list of new office equipment, new mobility equipment (vehicles) and construction materials.
Waste
The perimeter of the waste inventory is set to waste production from facilities and internal operations of the institution
It has to be noted that the collected data of the 2050Today members resulting in each carbon footprint are not yet fully standardized and might not be entirely complete. Data collection is being progressively harmonized and improved. Therefore, direct comparisons between tCO2 / employee among institutions – be it in general or per sector – are not yet possible nor relevant.
To ensure the reliability, the accuracy and a recurrent updating of the carbon footprint assessment, 2050Today is advised by an international Carbon Footprint Scientific Committee.
© 2050Today 2024 | Designed by webgeneve
The perimeter of 2050Today inventory is set to the purchase of grid electricity (in kWh) directly by the institution or through the entity managing the facility. If electricity is produced (through solar photovoltaic panels for instance) and consumed on-site, it is also considered in the inventory. All emissions from grid electricity purchased & consumed by the institution belong to Scope 2. Among the on-site produced & consumed electricity, emissions from combined heat & power installation, oil and natural gas belong to Scope 1.
According to the GHG Protocol, if an institution can be provided with product-specific data in the form of guarantees of origin, certificates, contracts, or other contractual instruments, it will report two scope 2 totals for the overall GHG inventory: one market-based, and one location-based. To be as accurate as possible the physical reality of GHG emissions, 2050Today reports location-based emissions.
The location-based method is calculated using Horocarbon UNIGE assessment tool to measure the grid average emission factor for Geneva.
We have further categorized the electricity purchased from the grid based on its source. For the electricity purchased from SIG, it includes different types of products such as Electricité Vitale Bleu or Electricité Vitale Soleil. There may also be a portion of electricity sourced from coal, oil, solar, or wind power. In this inventory, institutions can fill in the corresponding table with data based on the generation source of the electricity they have purchased.
2050Today’s carbon footprint methodology considers only the location-based method, or in other words grid electricity emissions. Product-specific data can be provided through the data entry form for information purposes and referenced accordingly but not considered in GHG calculations.
For this category, the amount of the energy source consumed to heat and/or cool the institution’s building area are included (e.g., liters of heating oil, m3 of natural gas, kWh of electricity). If the institution is benefiting from GeniLac, it can indicate the total quantity of water that was used by the system during the year.
If one institution purchases heating or cooling services from district heating or SIG product, this portion of emissions would belong to Scope 2. If one institution generates heating or cooling on site from energy sources like natural gas or oil, this portion of emissions would belong to Scope 1. We also categorized the heating & cooling based on its source, so that institutions can fill in the corresponding table with data based on the generation source.
The cooling perimeter also includes the use of refrigerants for air conditioning. If the refrigerants which belong to GHG are leaked or released into the atmosphere directly, this portion of emission belongs to Scope 1. If we consider the value chain of production of refrigerants, it belongs to Scope 3.
The perimeter of the 2050Today inventory is set to water consumption by the institution. The method requires the collection of data on water in m3 or in liters. Emissions from water consumption belong to Scope 3.
The Mobility sector is separated into two categories based on the ownership of the vehicles. Emissions from transportation in vehicles owned or leased by the institution are accounted either in Scope 1 (for fuel use) or Scope 2 (for electricity use), while emissions from transportation in vehicles not controlled by the institution (e.g., employees business travel & employee commuting) are part of Scope 3 GHG emissions The institution should be particularly careful if it owns electric vehicles as to avoid double counting of GHG emissions (electricity consumption of electric vehicles could be already included in building electricity consumption).
Data on employees commuting trips is collected through an online flash questionnaire that is sent directly to institutions’ employees. The data in this section is part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, Category 7 (Employee Commuting). This anonymous data is processed directly by 2050Today and will be reported in the calculation of the institutions’ global carbon footprint.
A summary of the vehicle fleet is demanded, and the method requires the collection of data on distances travelled (km) or on fuel usage (kWh of electricity or liters of petrol, diesel, natural gas or biofuel) per vehicle type.
Employee business travels and employee commuting trips data are collected for reporting. The data in this section is part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, Category 6 (Business Travel). Data on terrestrial mobility, similarly to institution owned vehicles data, is collected for distances travelled (km) or for fuel usage (kWh of electricity or liters of petrol, diesel, natural gas or biofuel) per vehicle type. For aerial mobility, the method requires the institution to share information on distances travelled (cumulated km) and/or associated GHG emissions (tCO2-eq.). The share of compensated flights can also be inserted into the form.
For flights, 2050Today uses the Mobitool version 3.0 factors to estimate GHG emissions. The calculation is based on the Atmosfair method which includes the ICAO references and method. In addition to the pure CO2 emissions there are also non-CO2 emissions for flights, which are also recorded, calculated and reported with their climate impact in the Atmosfair method. It uses state of the art of climate science according to IPCC and peer reviewed literature.
The number of nights employees stayed at a hotel in the context of a business trip are included in the Mobility perimeter. This portion of emissions belong to Scope 3.
This sector includes indicators on the consumption of food and drink items offered by the institution. It includes food and drinks provided at the institution’s cafeteria and/or during in-house events. These indicators are also part of Scope 3 emissions, Category 1 with a “cradle to gate” boundary. Individual food consumption by employees during working hours is also measured.
In this sector, 2050today also use the Average-data method.
The parameter of this sector is set to a list of new office equipment, new mobility equipment (vehicles) and construction materials. Listed indicators are part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, category 1 (Purchased goods and services) with a “cradle to gate” or “upstream” boundary (extraction, production and transportation of goods purchased or acquired by the reporting institution during the year).
To calculate emissions from purchased goods and services, 2050today use the Average-data method, which means estimating emissions for goods and services by collecting data on the mass (e.g., kilograms or pounds), or other relevant units of goods or services purchased and multiplying by the relevant secondary (e.g., industry average) emission factors (e.g., average emissions per unit of good or service).
The perimeter of the 2050Today waste inventory is set to waste production from facilities and internal operations of the institution during the reported year. Only waste treatment in facilities owned or operated by third parties is included in scope 3. The method requires the collection of data on waste quantities by waste type (e.g., Paper, PET, Metal, Biodegradable) and by type of treatment and disposal (Recycled/re-used and not recycled). The waste inventory is part of Scope 3 emissions, Category 5 (Waste generated in operations). Treatment of waste generated in operations is categorized as an upstream scope 3 category because waste management services are purchased by the reporting institution.