Shrinking our Carbon Footprint

Shrinking our Carbon Footprint DCA Internal Climate Report 2012 – revised in March 2014 with correct emission numbers This report presents the result ...
Author: Kerry Bruce
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Shrinking our Carbon Footprint DCA Internal Climate Report 2012 – revised in March 2014 with correct emission numbers This report presents the result of DCA internal climate strategy for 2012, the CO2 accounts and what we have done to reduce emissions in Denmark and at our Regional and HMA Offices.

Background In February 2010 DCA presented an internal climate change policy and strategy. The aim of the strategy is to map and measure the most important CO2 emissions caused by our own activities and to outline a path for how to reduce DCA use of energy and CO2 emissions. The strategy is available on DCA intranet and DCA website. The long term goal is to reduce DCA HQ CO2-emissions to zero in 2020 at the latest, including at least 40 per cent reduction in HQ in Denmark, and supplemented by MRV1 actions in developing countries, compared to 2008 levels. This implies an average annual cut in emissions of around 5 per cent. The baseline year 2008 is chosen as this is the first year where reliable data is accessible. The goals and targets are relative which means emissions are measured also per employee. In 2011 the strategy was revised to have a focus on the largest emission factors and from 2011 our co2 accounts measure the CO2 emissions from electricity and heating in HQ and from all international flight trips – both trips bought at HQ through Vejle Rejser, and trips bought locally at the RO and HMA offices. According to the strategy the objectives should be reached through the following kinds of measures: 1. Investment in improved technical installations and change to more climate friendly energy and heat suppliers. 2. Development and implementation of policies e.g. on transportation, travelling, printing, procurement/purchase etc. 3. Awareness raising and behaviour changing campaigns among the employed staff and volunteers focussing on selected topics with major environmental impact. 4. MRV actions of unavoidable CO2 emissions Along with the focus on CO2 emissions the strategy also includes a goal to minimise the environmental impact in terms of water, chemicals in cleaning materials, printers and copy machines, use of disposable plates, cups and cutlery etc. We do not measure the exact effect of these actions.

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Measurable, Reportable and Verifiable (MRV) supported mitigation actions in developing countries may be counted as CO2 reduction in Denmark. MRV is an internationally acknowledged term also used in the current UN climate negotiations to describe criteria for mitigation actions of governments.

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Initiatives completed in 2012 In 2012 the following measures were completed:  Very electricity consuming lamps in GFU were replaces with low-energy solution. This should lead to major savings.  Light bulbs gradually replaced with LED where relevant and appropriate  Automatic light-on – light-off solution installed in the gate to Nørregade  Insulation of windows (secondary glazing and repair of windows) in POP  Change of supplier of cleaning detergent and toilet paper. Saves a lot of money plus environmentally friendly products  Travel policy in place – including a voluntary option for employees to travel by train on shorter trips in Europe and elsewhere. Initiatives related to second hand shops The Second Hand Unit has a continuous focus on how to reduce CO2 emissions. Most of the volunteers working in the second hand shops are from a generation which is already very aware of the need to limit the use of resources to the most necessary. At the same time the local management and the decentralised accounting system ensure a constant focus on reducing costs, given that each shop continuously tries to maximise the amount of money sent to DCA. The greatest saving potential at the second hand shops is by reducing the use of electricity. Unfortunately there is a limit to how much we can reduce since a well-illuminated shop is a precondition for a good sale. When we open new shops, move or modernize existing shops, we always choose LED illumination whenever it is possible and cost-effective. Furthermore, whenever our shops must replace burnt out light sources, we encourage them to acquire LED. For this purpose we use our internal magazine, “Guldfisken” (The Gold Fish) as a direct means of communication to our volunteers where we also tell them that we are at the disposal of the shops with advice and instructions on how to reduce the use of electricity in all shops. In recent years almost all our shops are buying electricity from Nødstrøm (an electricity product where part of the price consumers pay goes to DCA) but we have calculated that this is a net expense for DCA compared to other climate friendly electricity alternatives so at the moment we consider changing this. Initiatives related to IT In 2012 the following measures were completed:  All PCs and screens were replaced with new ones which have a 35-45% lower overall power consumption than previous models. Furthermore, all desktops were phased out and exchanged with low energy laptops, which amounts to a 80-85% power reduction per desktop.  Most of the old PCs and screens were disposed of through a used equipment broker, to ensure that they were recycled efficiently and effectively with minimal impact on the environment.  The virtual training system (e-learning) has now been implemented and is already being used on a small scale. It is still too early to say how much this has had impact on staff travel and reduction in carbon emissions.

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With the introduction of smartphones in DCA, we chose a manufacturer with Green Partner program for parts suppliers – ensuring that all process in the manufacturing of parts that involve chemicals and other hazardous substances are monitored and processed correctly during disposal.

IT: In the pipeline for 2013: For 2013/14, the following measures are planned or have already been initiated and are expected to influence the results of 2013:  A large part of the DCA data center servers were replaced with new ones which have a 35-45% lower overall power consumption than previous models.  We will continue to evaluate procedures for invoice handling in our ERP system (Maconomy) to reduce the need to print documents already stored in electronic format.  We will be introducing better staff collaboration tools, primarily based on a new Intranet system. We expect this to also result in less travel for meetings, paper savings due to less printing, etc.  The virtual training system (e-learning) will be further expanded with new training offerings for staff and partner training. This is expected to have a great impact on staff travel, resulting in less carbon emissions.  A new high-speed Internet link has already been established between DCA Aarhus and DCA Copenhagen, also allowing better collaboration between the two offices. We will continue to expand on virtual meeting facilities between these and other DCA sites to ensure less travel for meetings, etc.  The outdated DCA HQ phone system will be phased out in 2013 and be replaced by a new cloudbased system, to ensure better collaboration, less hardware requirements within DCA and reduced energy usage. Measures at RO and HMA offices in 2012 From 2011 Regional Offices and HMA offices are requested to submit data on flight trips bought locally at the offices and to report on activities/measures taken to reduce use of energy or other resources – or to become more climate/nature friendly in other ways. No information about such initiatives is however available for 2012. Compensation of flights DCA has decided not to buy CO2 credits externally but rather seek solutions for compensating flight trips among our partners or with other ACT partners. For the time being, we have chosen to use the money to support and strengthen some of our own partners’ efforts to mitigate CO2-emissions by developing local technologies which have a positive climate impact combined with a more efficient use of local resources and energy. The reductions resulting from these projects are not officially verified. This means that we cannot justify any claim to have climate neutralised flight trips – and we are not claiming that. The” compensation” for air travelling in 2011, 2012 and 2013 has been earmarked to a biogas project in three municipalities in the Western part of Honduras (La Campa and Tomalá in the Department of Lempira and Santa Rita in the Department of Copán). With this project CASM (partner working with digesters) has established nearly 200 bio-digesters in 2011 and now (in 2012) continues working at least 100 digesters more.

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The project is monitored by the Programme Coordinator in Honduras who reports the following about the situation in 2012: “CASM has given follow up to the 142 biogas plants installed during 2011 in 3 regions (La Campa, Tomalá and Copán Ruinas). Evidence shows an abnormal variety in response to the technology by the rural families involved (see table below). Apparently, the efficacy of the bi gas Project in Copan Ruinas and Tomalá is reaching almost a 100% compliance, whereas in La Campa almost none of the installed bi gas plants is working. It is worth mentioning that Heifer Project has been experimenting with the Chinese type biogas plant in La Campa, which showed a far better durability. This is a critical point on the biogas technology based on polyethylene bags. This led CASM and DCA to the decision to hire a consultant in order to investigate the reasons for that varied response and to have better indicators on the environmental and socio-economic effects of this technology. The recompilation of lessons learnt, the conclusions and recommendations of this investigation, should guide decisions on whether CAMS extends its biogas program and what it will require in order to stimulate a more positive response from the rural families. The results of this consultancy are expected to be presented by the end of June. Thus a more formal project adjustment on the biogas component is to be expected in July. Additionally, we have suggested CASM to organize a roundtable discussion on the theme of Biogas, together with other NGOs and international agencies that have worked and systematized their experiences with biogas. Probably, we can charter an expert on domestic biogas (experience in Cambodja) to co-facilitate such a roundtable. The results of this consultancy will also inform the evaluation process of the CASM project, which will end this year. The organization of community efforts together with the municipal authorities on behalf of a medium scale hydro-electric power plant in Tomalá is advancing at a slow pace. This is caused mainly by the threat of political interferences in the embryonic efforts to organize community representations in a Social Enterprise (Empresa de Servicios Multiples del Sector Social de la Economia). Also they are counting with a scenario of a future change of municipal authorities that might have a detrimental effect on this initiative, led by organized citizenry. This situation may lead to a postponement of a concrete take off of the project till the effect of the November elections may clear up the expected scenarios for the near future. Meanwhile, the actual municipal authorities and community leaders have been proactively approaching possible investors, but until now without an offer that complies with the expectations of a more just and equitable distribution of revenues. La Campa Tomalá Copán Ruinas Biogas plants installed 50 36 56 Biogas plants working 0 10 38 Biogas plants needing 0 15 * 12 ** repairs Biogas plants discarded 50 9 7 * waiting for the results of the consultancy in order to start repairs.

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** 12 of which 7 are already reactivated.”

Results: CO2-emissions in 20122 The total CO2 emissions of 2012 – including the factors mentioned above (flight trips from Vejle Rejser, plus heating and electricity at HQ) – was 917 tons CO2 compared to 1006 tons in 2011, 1099 tons in 2010, 998 tons in 2009 and 1111 tons in 2008. The emissions per employee were 6.06 tons CO2 compared to 6.89 tons CO2 in 2011, 7 tons CO2 in 2010 6,37 tons in 2009 and 7,58 tons in 2008. Measured from the baseline year 2008, emissions per employee in 2012 were 20 per cent lower than in 2008. Since 2011 we have added flight trips bought locally at the Regional Offices (RO) and HMA offices. These show a total of 194 tons co2 compared to 290 tons CO2 in 2011. However, the numbers cannot be compared directly since in 2011 some offices included domestic flights which is not the case for 2012. We have decided not to include this number in the grand total but to keep HQ and RO/HMA emissions separate. In this way we will still be able to compare HQ numbers back to 2008. Furthermore, we keep a separate list for each RO/HMA office in order to make future tracking and comparison easier. In this way, each office will have its own baseline. The results from each individual office can be seen in the background data below.

Conclusion Reducing CO2 emissions continues to be difficult – and flight emissions constitute the biggest challenge – and also the biggest fluctuations which is not really controlled by climate priorities but influenced by a lot of other factors. In 2010-2011 the result was not very impressing but 18 per cent reduction from 2008 to 2012 appears to be more satisfying. There is, however, a risk that emissions from flights can rise again and influence the overall results negatively in the future. Travelling is an inherent part of DCA work which is necessary to be able to monitor and follow up on our activities. Thus, it cannot be abandoned without harming the quality of our work. But we can and will continue to explore ways of reducing also these emissions, through the use of new technology for communication, reducing the number of flight trips if possible or, in some instances, travelling by other means than flights. When it comes to electricity and heating, as long as we continue our focus to reduce emissions there is good chance e of meeting the goal of a 40 per cent reduction, or even a 100 per cent if we invest in renewable energy.

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Final numbers for heating and electricity have been corrected in January 2014 according to the exact emission factors for 2012, made available by “Energistyrelsen” in October 2013.

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Background data3

Total CO2-emissions in tons 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Electricity HQ Heating HQ Flight trips Vejle Rejser Flight trips RO & HMA (only since 2011) Total CO2-emissions HQ in tons

CO2-emissions per emplyee in tons DK 8,00 7,00 6,00 5,00 4,00

CO2-emissions per emplyee in tons DK

3,00 2,00 1,00 0,00 2008

3

2009

2010

2011

2012

These figures are updated with final emission factors – see footnote 2.

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Total CO2-emissions in tons

Electricity HQ

2008 2009 107,73 100,80 61,09 51,70

2010 100,20 50,10

2011 89,12 51,60

2012 62,94 49,47

942,00 845,00

948,60

Heating HQ Flight trips Vejle Rejser Total CO2emissions HQ in tons

865,32

804,87

1110,82 997,50 1098,90 1006,04

917,28

Flight trips RO & HMA (only since 2011)

290,07

194,35

CO2-emissions per emplyee in tons CO2-emissions per emplyee in tons DK Electricity HQ Heating HQ Fligth trips Vejle flight trips RO & HMA Employees DK Employees RO & HMA total CO2-emissions flights per employee in tons RO&HMA CO2-emissions from flights per employee in tons HQ Air travelling Ros and HMA offices RO- South Sudan RO- Malawi

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

7,58 0,74 0,42 6,43

6,37 0,64 0,33 5,39

7,00 0,64 0,32 6,04

6,89 0,61 0,35 5,93

6,05 0,42 0,33 5,31

146,50 156,70

157,00

146,00

151,60

158,00

165,50

1,84

1,17

5,93

5,31

77,11

27,89

6,43

5,39

6,04

15,63

4,57

RO-Uganda

3,37

9,47

RO-Ethiopia

13,98

6,1

RO-Palestine

14,33

15,8

RO-Kyrgyztan

25,20

27,87

RO-Cambodia

21,85

21,18

ROBurma/Myanm

31,33

27,1

7

ar RO-Honduras RO-India includes domestic flights in 2011 HMA-Libya

4,81

7,23

49,80

31,17

0,00

0

16,84

N/A

HMA-Lebanon

4,14

7,65

HMABurma/Myanm ar

8,74

5,72

HMA-Laos

2,94

1,61

HMA-Angola

HMA-Congo HMA-South Sudan Flight trips RO & HMA total

N/A

0,61

N/A

0,38

290,07

194,35

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