The company discloses the GHG emissions in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol or standards based on it and states the goals it has set itself to reduce emissions, as well as its results thus far.
In the reporting period 2019, INPACS' environmental performance indicator system has been revised and a greenhouse gas (GHG) report following the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard has been created for the first time.
In this course, the INPACS head office can report a total of 176 tons of CO2 caused. The GHG emissions caused directly (Scope 1 + 2) are accounted for only 12%, mainly influenced by the fuel consumption (5,5%) and also by heating energy (3,5 %) and the consumption of electricity (3%).
With the preparation of the GHG balance, INPACS has been able for the first time to also report on the indirectly caused emissions (Scope 3). Scope 3 currently accounts for as much as 88% of the total balance, almost entirely due to the position of business trips (86%). The data contained is not complete yet, information regarding e.g. the travel routes of the employees was not available in 2019.
Distribution of Emissions by Scopes according to GHG Report
Since the travel activities of the international key account managers are essential for realizing INPACS' business model, a substantial reduction of the related absolute emissions will not be feasible. But it is constantly promoted to use digital communication channels where appropriate and to pool regional meetings in an efficient way - the rather minor increase of the number of flights from 447 in 2017 to 476 in 2019 and the concurrent increase of train trips from 81 in 2018 to 117 in 2019 are currently confirming the validity of this approach.
INPACS has decided against the concept of financial CO2-compensation and against the usage of the claim "climate neutral company". Instead, independently of our absolute emissions, we are planning to support a non-governmental organisation, which is dedicated to international reforestation. By this, we are setting the focus on the reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions as well as our related performance and create the transparency needed (cf. criterion 18).
The much more impactful leverage point for reducing climate-relevant emissions lays on group level, which is why the newly adopted group-wide sustainability strategy calls on all members to "Significantly Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Local, National and International Level". Here, the concrete measures are the following:
Elaboration of GHG Reports: To identify the effective points of leverage, all members shall (first) create transparency on their climate impact by reporting on their GHG emissions in alignment to the GHG protocol corporate standard. INPACS will facilitate appropriate tools to members and monitor the progress.
Define an Ambitious Reduction Action Plan: By analysing their GHG report, INPACS members shall identify the most relevant areas of improvement, set ambitious reduction targets and schedule appropriate actions.
Once a sufficient proportion of our members has implemented these measures, the groundwork for an international climate management with harmonised targets and monitoring processes is done.