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Successive reduction of CO2 emissions in the economy is of enormous environmental importance. Accurately calculating the carbon footprint and reducing it is also a business dimension, important especially for companies required to report beyond financials.
Successive reduction of CO2 emissions in the economy is of enormous environmental importance. Accurately calculating the carbon footprint and reducing it is also a business dimension, important especially for companies obliged to provide non-financial reporting. In the coming years, their number will significantly increase due to further EU regulations. Obtaining carbon footprint data, especially Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, is still a challenge for many companies. Lack of them can threaten problems in obtaining financing or contractors. An ESG portal created by Energy Solution, an energy efficiency consulting firm, among others, is expected to provide support.
With the coming into force of the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) adopted by the European Parliament, more and more companies in Poland will be obliged to report on non-financial issues every year. In 2025, these obligations will affect more than 3,600 companies in our country. The changes introduced by the directive primarily address the issue of consistency in ESG reporting, but there are further provisions waiting to be implemented, talking about calculating the carbon footprint or combating greenwashing practices, among other things.
High carbon footprint is a problem with financing and contractors
Why is the non-financial report becoming increasingly important for business? Because its absence, and thus the lack of transparency of a given business, can contribute to eliminating its participation in tenders. The reason could be, for example, a gap due to the lack of information on the carbon footprint of a company and/or product. In addition, in the near future, a company’s climate impact may prove to be an important criterion for granting it loans or credits by financial institutions that officially set reduction targets.
– The level of carbon footprint has an increasing impact on Polish business and is particularly important for companies operating in the international supply chain, due to the possibility of losing contractors.Unfortunately, the high carbon footprint of Polish companies is mainly due to the high-carbon energy produced in our country. For European business partners, the carbon footprint of Polish products/companies is the carbon footprint of their Scope 3 (so-called Scope 3). There is increasing talk of strengthening cooperation with suppliers to provide data related to their carbon footprint. The one on the product is both a depiction of the carbon footprint of the company and the entire value chain involved in its manufacture and use,” says Agata Zieleniak, Energy Manager and Energy Solution Auditor
ESG portal will make it easier to estimate carbon footprint
Carbon footprint reduction issues and decarbonization efforts are having an increasing impact on business in Poland. At the same time, obtaining data related to the supply chain remains a major challenge for businesses. For this reason, Energy Solution, decided to create a portal designed for non-financial reporting, including a local industry database. In September this year, the company also joined the Polish ESG Association, where it will share its knowledge and experience related to the implementation of sustainable energy solutions.
– We began work on the portal with the first stage related to the development of the environmental area, which has the largest number of metrics based primarily on consumption data. This is because greenhouse gas emissions are the result of energy consumption, the use of various components or the provision of services. Our analysis of local datasets together with modeling makes it possible to determine the emissivity for individual economic industries in Poland. It is possible to monitor them in terms of Scope 1 and Scope 2, at a business partner in the supply chain. In addition, an annual update of greenhouse gas emissions for the industry is anticipated,” explains Agata Zieleniak.
How to stay competitive in a carbon-intensive environment?
The creation of the portal will make it easier for companies to obtain data on their carbon footprint, and thus the knowledge needed for ESG reporting, for example. However, it will not automatically make companies’ carbon footprint decrease. In the meantime, many are asking themselves how to stay in international business relationships and not fall out of the market, or how to increase the competitiveness of a product or company if the energy system we use is mainly based on coal? Energy Solution experts advise staying as independent as possible from the National Energy System.
– This means striving to cover energy needs from renewable sources as much as possible. In this case, the solution can be own renewable energy installations, as well as long-term contracts for the supply of green energy, so-called PPAs. In addition to this, all pro-efficiency measures should be taken to reduce the company’s energy consumption. Improving energy efficiency is possible through a wide range of modernization, e.g. heat source, replacement of energy-intensive equipment with energy-efficient ones, heat recovery from refrigeration systems or air compressors, replacement of car fleets, thermo-modernization of buildings, replacement of lighting and many more – emphasizes Agata Zieleniak.
Waiting for mandatory legal regulations to reduce emissions and inactivity can put Polish companies out of the supply chain. Therefore, increasingly decisive steps are needed in implementing measures resulting in a systematic reduction in the level of greenhouse gas emissions.