What is a carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide
and methane) that are generated by our actions.

The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the
highest rates in the world. Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons. To
have the best chance of avoiding a 2℃ rise in global temperatures, the average global
carbon footprint per year needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050.

Lowering individual carbon footprints from 16 tons to 2 tons doesn’t happen overnight!
By making small changes to our actions, like eating less meat, taking fewer connecting
flights and line drying our clothes, we can start making a big difference.

What is the carbon footprint and why will reducing it help to combat climate change?

Energy transition Climate action

The carbon footprint represents the total volume of greenhouse gases (GG) resulting
from everyday economic and human activity. Knowing the carbon footprint of an activity,
which is measured in tons of CO2 emissions, is important when it comes to taking
measures and launching initiatives to reduce it to the lowest possible level. It all starts
with what each individual does every day.

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The carbon footprint measures the greenhouse gases (GG) produced by human
activity.

Every time you travel by car, charge your mobile phone, switch on the TV or run the
washing machine, and many other thousands of routine activities, you leave a trail of
gases in your wake that build up in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
These emissions speed up climate change, warn the United Nations (UN) in its
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and if we do not neutralise them in time by
decarbonising the economy and through other measures such as environmental taxes,
a far more inhospitable world is just around the corner.
What is a carbon footprint

The trace of the greenhouse gases produced by human activities are known as the
carbon footprint. This environmental indicator measures both direct and indirect
emissions of compounds like methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and, above all, the most
abundant and most important contributor to global warming since 1990: Carbon dioxide
(CO2).

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says that the concentration of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2019 and that today's
levels of atmospheric CO2 are comparable to those of more than three million years
ago, when the earth's thermometer marked a temperature about 3°C higher and sea
levels were 10 to 20 metres higher than they are today. According to the Global
Footprint Network, so far, the carbon footprint has not stopped growing. In fact it has
increased elevenfold since 1961 and now accounts for 60 % of man's total impact on
the environment.

Personal carbon footprint

Your personal carbon footprint is what you leave behind as a result of moving about,
consuming, eating and using resources like energy. Environmental NGO The Nature
Conservancy estimates that each inhabitant on the planet produces an average of
almost four tons of CO2 every year, while in countries like the United States this amount
is up to four times that per person and per year.

The Nature Conservancy says that we all need to reduce our carbon footprints to less
than two tons per year by 2050. The experts say that this is the best way to ensure that
temperatures stop rising and don't reach the dreaded 2 °C threshold, which would
exacerbate climate change and transform it into an irreversible problem.

The carbon footprint of companies

Like human beings, companies also produce greenhouse gases during manufacturing,
transport and energy consumption. The corporate footprint measures all GG emissions
from companies and their scope, whether they are direct and controllable or not.
In this regard, companies usually have the option to reduce or offset their carbon
footprints. How? By improving their energy efficiency, consuming energy of 100 %
renewable origin, running campaigns to raise awareness, investing in environmental
projects, paying green taxes and buying tons of CO2 on the international emissions
market, among other options.

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The carbon footprint of an organisation along the value chain.

SEE INFOGRAPHIC: The carbon footprint of an organisation along the value chain
[PDF]External link, opens in new window.

The carbon footprint of a product

Consumer goods and services also emit greenhouse gases before, during and after
their useful life. Therefore, pollution starts with the obtaining of raw materials,
processing, production and distribution, through to their use and transformation into
waste which is either reused, recycled or goes to landfill. The carbon footprint of events
such as concerts, shows or sports events, among others, is also significant due to
aspects like transport, energy consumption, waste generated, etc.