Functional Carbon Offsetting in 2023
Functional offset 10 tonnes of CO2 in 2023. But how do you calculate a software company's footprint – and which offsetting approach actually makes a difference? Here's our thinking.
Why We Chose ForTomorrow – and How We Calculated Our Footprint
Functional GmbH offset 10 tonnes of CO2 in 2023 via ForTomorrow. Determining the footprint took significant effort – and choosing the right offsetting method sparked an equally lively debate.
Determining Our Footprint
We are not a manufacturing company. Our emissions come from purchased goods (IT hardware), travel, heating, electricity, and cloud services. We used invoices, travel expense sheets, and utility bills combined with individual CO2 conversion factors per category. We added a 40% safety margin to be on the safe side.
Why Not Just Plant Trees?
Tree planting is a common offsetting approach, but there are well-documented arguments for why other methods may be more effective. We compared:
- Tree planting (Plant for the Planet, Treedom, Mama Earth)
- Moor renaturation (ZukunftMoor)
- Vetted climate projects (patch.io, klimahelden, Green Planet Energy)
- EU emissions certificate retirement (ForTomorrow)
Why We Chose ForTomorrow
- Uses mandatory EU emissions trading – not voluntary certificates
- Each certificate purchased forces large emitters (coal plants) to pay more, making pollution less profitable
- Works where our emissions occur: the EU
- Higher leverage than projects in Africa or Asia via the Voluntary Carbon Market
Yes, they also plant trees for that warm feeling inside :-)