Another year, the Catalan Institute of Cork Foundation has renewed its seal of Program of Voluntary Agreements for the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with the commitment that began in 2015 to demonstrate the entity's carbon footprint in line with the European guidelines that establish the Sustainable Development Goals. With this process of calculating the ecological footprint, the institution works to identify possible critical points in order to reduce it annually. 

The Voluntary Agreements Program is driven by theCatalan Climate Change Office (OCCC) and aims to recognize organizations that voluntarily want to establish a commitment to reduce their emissions. The seal is reviewed annually and measures to improve are proposed for each campaign.

The 2021 inventory 

The 2021 inventory of the Fundació Institut Català del Suro increases emissions compared to the previous year due to factors such as the return to the new normal, which has resulted in face-to-face work, business trips or participation in an Erasmus project between others Direct emissions derived from own transport have also increased due to the return to presence after the effects of Covid-19. 

This year more categories of indirect emissions have been incorporated and as a result of this effort to adapt the emissions calculation to ISO 14064, indirect emissions have increased compared to the previous period, with a more representative inventory and with more performance capacity. The following points stand out: 

-The indirect emissions of transport in itinere increase by 30% due to the increase in activity generated by the new post-pandemic normality. 

-Indirect emissions from the transport of customers and visitors increase by 97% due to ICSuro's participation in an ERASMUS+ program, the ECOCORK, which promotes immersive experiences in the world of tourism and aeronautics for students from different countries .

-Indirect emissions from business trips decrease by 21% thanks to telematic meetings. 

-Indirect waste emissions remain constant. However, the 29% reduction in the volume of light packaging generated thanks to ICSuro's commitment to provide glass canteens to all workers stands out.

-The indirect emissions of water consumption decrease by 24% due to the optimization of some laboratory protocols and the use of new cooling techniques.

Improvements implemented

Every year the ICSuro Foundation adopts a series of measures to reduce its emissions. In 2021, the following improvements were implemented: 

-Reduce the generation of plastic waste resulting from the consumption of bottled drinking water, changing the staff's 1.5L bottles for 6 or 8L canteens and bottles.

-Consider implementing a weekly telework day to reduce indirect emissions generated by en route transport. These emissions currently account for approximately half of the emissions generated by the entity.

Anticipated proposals

Looking ahead to 2022, the installation of a 34.04kWp photovoltaic system made up of 77 panels and the implementation of one day of telework per week have been proposed as improvements as the main initiatives. 

The calculation of the inventory

The inventory includes direct emissions derived from own transport and indirect emissions derived from electricity and water consumption, transport by road, train and distribution plane, workers, customers and visitors and the treatment of municipal waste and laboratory waste . 

Committed to the environment

Participation in the Program of Voluntary Agreements is an example of the Institut Català del Suro Foundation's concern for its environmental but also economic or social impact. In this sense, ICSuro has integrated its management into the international model of theEconomy of the Common Good and is about to publish its ESG Report according to this international model.