Abengoa leads the way in flagging the carbon footprint of products and services

Abengoa was successful in reducing its emissions by 750,000 t of CO2 in comparison with the GHG 2011 inventory.

For the second year running, Abengoa (MCE: ABG), a company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, has labelled CO₂ emissions associated to the production of products and services in 2013 using specific methodologies developed in-house. Last year, the company managed to label a total of 17 products and services during the same period.

In calculating the carbon footprint of these products and services, Abengoa has used the GHG management system of its own Sustainability Management System (ISMS), which logs all the information required to prepare the labels. The GHG system is verified externally in accordance with the ISO 14064 standard.

The process is based on the GHG Protocol Life Cycle Analysis, an international protocol devised by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) for calculating and reporting the GHG emissions of products and services over their life cycle. It is also based on the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050, which is used to certify GHG emissions during the production life cycle of products and services, and on the ISO 14067 for calculating the carbon footprint.

Thanks to its management system, Abengoa has managed to reduce the impact of its activities by setting itself targets for improvement In 2012, the company was successful in reducing its emissions by 750,000 t of CO₂ in comparison with the GHG 2011 inventory, on the back of the annual plans that Abengoa rolls out to curb emissions generated by its activities To date, the company has signed agreements with over 21,000 suppliers worldwide, requiring them to disclose their emissions or undertake to implement a reporting system for their emissions within the term of six months.

The labelling of products and services enables the comparison of emissions in subsequent years and fundamental analysis of energy efficiency and the intensity of emissions, thus verifying the sustainability of our productive processes and assure our company’s future business.

Thanks to its sterling work in promoting sustainability, last March Abengoa received the Spanish edition of the European Business Award for the Environment, under the Business Management for Sustainable Development category, in recognition of its System for Managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Plans, a project the company embarked on back in 2008.

With this initiative, Abengoa has cemented its position as a leading company in the development of innovative technological solutions aimed at sustainable development and has become a benchmark in the development of policies to combat climate change and the sustainability of its activities.