02. April 2024

Is the personal footprint of employees relevant?

Many companies have already taken the first step and created a carbon footprint to understand and reduce their emissions. But what about the personal footprint of their employees, which does not appear on a company's balance sheet? The Swiss Climate team looked into this question and came up with some interesting results.

Our team used our CO₂ FOOTPRINT calculator to calculate their personal footprint. In total, the team emitted 290 tons of CO₂ in 2023, which is almost 7 tons of CO₂ per person. Compared to the Swiss average of around 12 tons and the global average of 6 tons per capita per year. This puts us in the middle of the pack. It was particularly revealing that consumption - despite a significant trend towards conscious consumption - was a hotspot of the personal carbon footprint. Less surprisingly, housing (heating and electricity consumption) was identified as a hotspot. In particular, older homes and gas heating contributed significantly to our emissions. We also overestimated the contribution of mobility - including air travel - to our total emissions.

Leading by example: Why the personal footprint matters

The personal footprint of employees complements the corporate footprint. Emissions from personal activities outside of work (such as housing, personal travel, and consumption) generally do not fall directly into the categories provided by the GHG Protocol for corporate carbon footprints. However, certain aspects of employees' lifestyles can be included in Scope 3 emissions if they are related to business activities. Examples include

- Employee commuting between home and work.

- Consumption of food and beverages provided by the company, for example in a canteen.

- Business travel by employees.

The GHG Protocol itself provides specific guidelines for calculating and reporting these emissions, but focuses primarily on emissions associated with business activities. Nevertheless, the relevance is clear from our own example: the private team footprint is about 26 times higher than Swiss Climate's carbon footprint.

Companies that want to go further in climate protection can therefore support their employees in making their lifestyles more sustainable - even in areas that go beyond the direct business aspects.

The CO₂ FOOTPRINT calculator: a tool for team engagement

To help companies and their teams track and reduce their carbon footprint, we recommend using our CO₂ FOOTPRINT calculator as a first step. This user-friendly tool allows each team member to calculate their individual footprint, increases climate awareness and provides a solid basis for collective action to reduce a team's personal emissions. For example, Swiss Climate pays for the SBB GA travelcard for all employees, which not only has a positive impact on business travel and commuting, but also streamlines expense processes. In addition, the CO₂ balance can be used to support a climate protection project in Switzerland or abroad.

The bottom line: One step at a time towards a sustainable future

Die Gegenüberstellung des privaten Fussabdrucks der Mitarbeitenden und den Gesamtemissionen eines Unternehmens liefert interessante Einblicke und eröffnet grosses Potenzial für weitere Nachhaltigkeitsbemühungen. Indem Unternehmen ihre Mitarbeitenden ermutigen und befähigen, ihren persönlichen CO₂-Fussabdruck zu verstehen und zu reduzieren, können sie nicht nur ihre eigene Nachhaltigkeitsbilanz verbessern, sondern auch einen positiven Beitrag zum globalen Klimaschutz leisten.
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