The GoClimate community has recently added a new project to the roster – clean-burning stoves in Kenya! Not only does this initiative contribute to cutting emissions, but it also creates a healthy environment for cooking food. Families in rural Kenya traditionally use three-stone open-fire stoves for cooking. Apart from creating harmful smoke that leads to respiratory problems, this cooking method relies on gathering wood from nearby forests, which is both time-consuming and degrades the forest over time. Yet, many Kenyan families cannot afford to purchase fuel-efficient stoves – and as fuelwood is largely collected for free, there is no incentive to either.

A sustainable business model

This project distributes affordable, durable and energy-efficient cookstoves to families across Kenya. The cookstoves reduce the amount of fuel needed by almost 40%. As well as producing nearly 100,000 stoves per year at a site near Nairobi, the project develops local market channels and supports affiliate companies to create sustainable distribution networks of cookstoves that are adapted to local needs. Over 60% of people involved in sales, manufacturing and distribution are women, allowing the project to create opportunities in a typically male-dominated environment. Each stove has a serial number which is scanned and assigned to a customer so sales can be recorded in a transparent and continuous way.

Increased life quality for women and children

On top of cutting emissions and reducing pressure on forests, the cookstoves significantly ease the lives of women and children who are primarily responsible for cooking and collecting fuel. In fact, the type of locally-made stove distributed by the project is ranked in a study by UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago as the best household investment in Kenya.

The Global Sustainability Goals

This project contributes to the following Global Sustainability Goals; 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health & wellbeing), 5 (gender equality), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 13 (climate action) and 15 (life on land).

Vår nya regering har knappt hunnit tillsättas, men visar redan tydligt hur klimat- och miljöfrågor nedprioriteras på ett alarmerande sätt – inte minst genom nedläggningen av Miljödepartementet. Vi är många som vill se fokus på klimat- och miljöfrågor för att ge Sverige en chans att ställa om innan det är för sent.

Efter initiativ som ”forskaruppropet” och ”företagaruppropet” vill vi kalla till ett ”medborgarupprop”. Om vi är många som skickar samma uppmaning till vår nya regering kan de få ministrar som faktiskt ser allvaret i situationen få stöd som möjliggör en förändring. Tillsammans kan vi göra vår röst hörd!

För att hjälpa till, skicka nedanstående text till:

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Skriv Klimatupprop i ämnesraden och fyll i ditt namn nederst

Hej!

“Behandla klimatkrisen som den akuta och livsavgörande kris den är, och visa starkt politiskt klimatledarskap! ”

Så skriver 1944 forskare och anställda i forskarvärlden i en debattartikel i Aftonbladet riktad till Sveriges politiker i slutskedet av valkampanjen 2022.

I samma tidning kan man någon vecka senare ta del av en debattartikel på samma tema med en uppmaning från över 200 företagare, till våra politiker att skapa kraftfulla och förutsägbara klimat- och framtidsvänliga strukturer att verka i.

“Vi som skrivit under denna debattartikel vill inte vara tvåa på bollen. Vi vill fortsätta ligga i framkant. Vi vill gå före och visa resten av världen att en omställning inte bara är möjlig, utan att den också är ett recept för affärsmässig framgång. Det är här ni politiker kommer in i bilden. Vi klarar nämligen inte att gå hela vägen själva. Vi behöver både incitament och tuffare regleringar från er sida, eftersom sådana krav gör oss bättre. Vi behöver långsiktiga spelregler och tydliga mål, eftersom det ger oss trygghet när vi gör våra investeringar.”

Nu är regeringsbildningen klar och som medborgare i Sverige vill jag rikta samma uppmaningar som forskarna och företagarna till den nya regeringen och till vår nya klimat- och miljöminister Romina Pourmokhtari. Jag hoppas på ett kraftfullt klimatledarskap och på att klimatpolitiska rådets rekommendationer följs. Jag vill – precis som forskarna och företagarna – också ha tydliga, långsiktiga och skarpa regleringar för oss alla – såväl företagare som medborgare. Vi är beredda att ta konsekvenserna, men ni måste våga leda vägen!

Mvh

(Ditt namn)

Sometimes we depend on external systems to live a friendlier climate life. Some help us make better choices, and others limit our pool of options, like the source of the daily electricity we consume. In some countries, choosing our source of electricity is possible; in others, not at all. Still, we use electricity for almost everything we do. Thus, ensuring that the default source of electricity in countries’ power grids is renewables is a critical structural change.

At GoClimate, we are supporting a Gold Standard project in Rajasthan, India, that does just that. This project replaces the use of fossil fuels to provide clean, renewable energy for the Indian grid from its intense, famously strong sun.

As a result, 779,000 tonnes of CO2 are prevented from going into the atmosphere yearly, equivalent to the total yearly emissions of 34 348 US citizens or 260 534 Vietnamese citizens. At the same time, it has contributed to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

The Context

India is the world’s third-largest energy-consuming country thanks to rising incomes and improving living standards. Energy use has doubled since 2000. However, 80% of its demand is still being met by coal, oil, and solid biomass. India’s government hopes to change this and aims to quadruple renewable electricity capacity by 2030.

The Project

This project is installing a large solar farm to harness the sun’s blistering rays and turn them into renewable electricity. By sending the electricity to the regional grid, it displaces fossil fuel-based power and avoids the associated harmful greenhouse gases. Thanks to this project 180,000+ average Indian households can be powered by renewable energy for a year!

Moving to a new office is exciting – and by setting the right requirements from the start, it is a great opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint in both the short and long term. This is why we have put together some tips on what is good to have in mind in order to create the right conditions.

Choosing the space

There are various standards for a sustainable building, both international ones but also ones that can vary from country to country. Some to keep an eye out for are the following:

LEED standard – Leadership in Energy and Environment Design

WELL certified – focusing on employee well-being

Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to be close to public transport links if possible, so that employees and visitors can get there in an environmentally friendly way. Another thing to consider where relevant, is to offer safe bike storage for employees opting for biking to work.

Electricity

To think about:

Choose green electricity 

Heating – what is the energy source?

Other factors you may be able to influence are insulation, energy use and LED lights.

Ask the landlord about this at an early stage when you are considering options and make it clear that it is an important criteria – allowing you to negotiate good terms from the start. Electricity use, heating and cooling systems are usually quoted per sqm in the contract, so it is easy to compare if you are looking at several options of premises.

Regarding lighting, you may want to consider whether it is possible to have motion sensors so that the lights are automatically turned off when the office is empty. Or, alternatively, the option to turn off/on centrally at certain hours of the day in all or part of the premises.

You could also look at the possibility of installing your own solar panels on the roof. If you are located in a part of the world where electricity is expensive or particularly “dirty” (if you are Germany based, for example, energy is likely to be coal-fired) this may be particularly relevant. 

Purchasing and choosing IT and electronics

For companies where efficient technology is key, it is important to find good strategies to reduce emissions related to this. There is much to be gained by planning ahead to make good purchases, so that a new purchase does not result in older equipment being obsolete when matched with the new equipment. See our blog post on ‘Planned Obsolescence’ to see what you can do to avoid the pitfalls.

Servers

We’ve written a blog post on the carbon footprint of servers before, which provides good guidance. The quick answer is that the most energy efficient are cloud servers that use green energy. What are your options? Spending a bit of time on doing your research here could make a big difference.

Purchasing electronics

If there is a lot of new equipment to be purchased, make sure you have reasonable contracts with suppliers for service. How long is the warranty? How long is the expected lifespan?

The product description will often state how long a product’s lifetime is, which is an indication for you when it comes to setting standards for upgrades. Dell and Apple laptops have an estimated lifespan of four years, and monitors are estimated at 6 years, but that’s probably on the low side.

An important question is, how long will the product live up to your technical standards? Longevity is often determined by our sense of trend[1]. Apple phones are used a year longer than Samsung despite being technically equivalent (54.5 months vs. 67 months). A product replacement policy should be based on an understanding of this.

Emission benchmarks:

Iphone 11 128GB – 77 kg CO2e

MacBook Pro 15-inch – 334 kg CO2e

Dell desktop computer – 500-600 kg CO2e

Dell monitor – 500-800 kg CO2e

Logitech mouse – just under 3 kg CO2e

In general, Fairphone ranks highest in terms of environmental standards, followed by Apple, then HP and Dell[2]. Logitech also has an ambitious sustainability policy.

Furniture

The footprint of an average office chair is 76 kg CO2e (Antov & Pancheva 2017), about the same as a smartphone. Furniture averages 20-80 kg CO2e per product, with sofas and office chairs having the largest footprint. Of the materials used, steel and foam plastics have the biggest impact. From a broader sustainability perspective, there is much to be gained from investing in sustainable furniture, as good quality extends its lifespan and the furnishings do not need to be replaced.

When choosing an interior design agency, there are options specializing in reuse – research to find your best local options!

Here are some suggestions for companies selling recycled office furniture: 

https://allforsale.se/en/ – Swedish company selling throughout Europe, larger quantities available

https://recycledbusinessfurniture.co.uk/ – UK 

https://www.sustainableofficefurniture.com.au/ – Australia

If you choose to buy new, choose products from companies that make a commitment to the environment, and choose those with a low carbon footprint. 

If you have end-of-life furniture that you want to replace, many companies offer to collect the furniture to ensure that it is recycled properly. Also, see if you can donate or sell furniture that is no longer of use to you.

Refurbishment

When refurbishing, it is important to consider that different materials have varying carbon footprints, with concrete often coming up as a high carbon footprint option. Wood is generally a good material from a sustainability perspective, but there are an incredible number of aspects to consider here. Improving insulation, for example, can be a good investment from a climate perspective, but it depends on many small choices that the person you hire for remodeling should know more about.

Other

Plants soak up carbon dioxide and look good. Whether they actually improve indoor air quality is a matter of debate, but they do contribute a sense of well-being that is overall beneficial.

Add any additional tips you would like us to include, in the comments section!

Setting a climate policy does not have to be hard or time consuming, it could be a few simple guidelines that could help employees a lot in their everyday decisions. Here are some examples of what can be included in a climate policy:

Food
We serve vegetarian or vegan food as a standard. Meat is available as an add on. We reduce our food waste by informing employees that there is food left over for them to take home.

Travel
We prioritise digital meetings and train travel. We do not fly domestically. Locally, we travel fossil-free.

Suppliers
We choose suppliers with their own climate and environmental policies in place.

IT equipment
We use IT equipment such as computers and mobile phones as long as they are in working order. They are replaced only when necessary. We give new employees the opportunity to choose second-hand equipment.

Purchasing
We prioritise buying second-hand office furniture, fittings, kitchen equipment, etc.

Couriers and transport
We work with fossil-free couriers.

Pensions
We encourage and facilitate our employees to choose pension suppliers that help rather than hinder climate action.

Giveaways
We do not use giveaways to avoid unnecessary consumtion.

We spread the word
We talk to our customers and suppliers about our climate-friendly choices, spreading the word!

Do you want help getting started with your company’s climate work?

Send us an email to [email protected] and we’ll take it from there!