JYU.Wisdom assesses the University’s carbon and biodiversity footprint for the second time and provides a method for open use
The aim is to integrate the calculation of carbon and biodiversity footprints more closely into financial accounting. JYU.Wisdom is aiming to develop and expand the calculation of biodiversity impacts to other sectors. This can be seen, for example, in a recently published JYU.Wisdom project that assesses the biodiversity footprint of S Group, a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation.
The Ģֱ aims to achieve carbon neutrality and no net loss of nature by 2030. The progress of goals is monitored with annual assessments of climate and biodiversity impacts. The University’s impacts were assessed for the first time in 2019 and the results were published in the Sustainability for JYU report.
“In comparison to the previous report, the estimation methods have advanced and some datasets have changed,” says Veera Vainio, the project manager of the Sustainability for JYU project. “Therefore, the current report and the previous one cannot be compared directly.” Various types of accounting material were used in the calculation of procurement impacts. The accounting material of 2020 was more extensive and took the operations of the whole University into account more comprehensively.
One practical result is that a simple calculation tool will be created for the University based on the new clarification. The Division of Policy and Planning will use the tool for the annual assessment of impacts. JYU.Wisdom will still have a supportive role in the calculation. In 2022, the University will have a new environmental programme in which concrete actions will be presented to reduce the carbon and biodiversity footprints.
Carbon footprint smaller; investments remain the largest source of emissions
In 2020, the Ģֱ’s carbon footprint was 24,418 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2e). The calculation differs from 2019 in that it does not include commuting or the food from Semma, the campus food services. When using the new categories and corresponding data, the University’s carbon footprint of 2019 was 31,857 t CO2e.
The largest source of the University’s emissions remains its investments, which cause 49% of its carbon footprint. The footprint of investments has decreased but the calculation has also become more specific. Procurement causes 25% while real estate and energy cause 24% of the carbon footprint. The footprints in procurement as well as in real estate and energy have remained similar in size.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on travelling especially. The carbon footprint of commuting decreased as much as 85% from the previous year. “It would be interesting to determine in more detail how the pandemic has affected and will affect commuting and business trips as well as the University’s emissions more broadly,” says Vainio.
Small growth in biodiversity impacts
The biodiversity footprint of district heating increased to 24.2 habitat hectares while in 2019 it was 21.3 habitat hectares. The impacts have increased despite the decreased consumption of heat. In heat production, the use of peat has been reduced and replaced with wood fuels. At the same time, the emissions from heat production have decreased. Nevertheless, the relative biodiversity footprint of wood fuels is greater in comparison to peat. Therefore, the increased share of wood fuels has also increased the biodiversity footprint. On the other hand, the current estimation views biodiversity impacts only in terms of land use and the biodiversity impacts caused by, for example, climate change are not taken into account. In the future, the calculation will be expanded to drivers of nature loss other than land use, such as climate change and nature loss caused by pollution.
The biodiversity footprint resulting from procurement decreased from the previous year. Procurement causes nature loss when habitats are destroyed or weakened because of land use or emissions. Most impacts were caused from the procurement of devices, machines and IT equipment.
- The report (in Finnish): Sustainability for JYU: Jyväskylän yliopiston ilmasto- ja luontohaitat 2020
More information:
Veera Vainio
Project manager, Sustainability for JYU
veera.s.vainio@jyu.fi
+358 50 447 3161
Sami El Geneidy
Doctoral Researcher, JYU.Wisdom & JSBE
sami.s.elgeneidy@jyu.fi
+358 40 532 9892
