Corporate Carbon Footprint
We are now working to create transparency through initial climate accounting; for us, transparency is an integral part of being a responsible bicycle brand. With the help of this carbon accounting, we can mea- sure our own corporate carbon footprint, and make fact-based decisions about which measures will most effectively enable us to reduce our environmental impact.
Carbon accounting, or Corporate Carbon Footprinting (CCF), involves measuring emissions of six green- house gases in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. These include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N22O), halogenated hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulfur hexa- fluoride (SF6). For comparability, each greenhouse gas is converted to an equivalent - the Global Warm- ing Potential, also known as CO2e. This potential de- scribes the impact of a given amount of any other greenhouse gas on the climate compared to CO2. As a rule, the effects are measured over a period of 100 years. The potential can be recognized by the small letter e after the formula CO2.
With the understanding that the largest share of our emissions is generated within our supply chain, we would nevertheless like to initially limit the scope of our carbon footprint to our internal corporate activi- ties.
The methodology for structuring, recording and calculating the data is based on the GHG Protocol for the reporting period 2022. For comparison purposes, we would like to refer to the year 2021, for which the best comparable data is available. In 2021 we also conducted an initial pilot project for a life cycle assessment of our bicycles and e-bikes. This gave us insight into the structure of a bicycle’s life cycle, and helped us identify certain hotspots.
To clearly delineate our corporate activities, we chose the consolidation approach based on what lies within our financial control. Our own corporate activities can be divided into so-called scope 1 and scope 2 emissions according to the GHG approach.
Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by us. This includes, for example, our company van.
Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from the gen- eration of electricity, heat or steam purchased by us. Accordingly, these are related to the generation of energy that we consume but do not generate ourselves.
Indirect emissions are measured under scope 3 and occur outside our operating boundaries. Examples of scope 3 emissions are our emissions from the pro- duction and transportation of purchased goods and services; the commuting of our employees; waste disposal; and the usage phase of our products. Since we personally make direct decisions about which products we purchase and how our products are used, we see it as our duty to also make these emissions as measurable as possible in the coming years. Within this report, we will initially limit ourselves to selected scope 3 emissions.