With the successful participation in the Ökoprofit NRW Programm from 2019-2021, the joining of the Leaders for Climate Action (LFCA) initiative and finally through the cooperation with the climate partner  FORLIANCE, we have achieved climate neutrality with our company this year. One year earlier than originally planned!

With Ökoprofit, we first determined our operational emissions and resource footprint. In the next step, and in cooperation with an environmental consultant as well as input from expert workshops of the City of Cologne, we developed measures to reduce our everyday use of resources. Then, more environmentally friendly alternatives to previous processes and products were identified and – where possible – switched to them. Finally, with what we have learned, we can constantly control and reduce the use and consumption of resources and thus save emissions and money (!).

In the LFCA initiative, we have once again determined our full CO2 footprint (based on the past two years), received inspiration for further environmentally friendly measures in the company and joined the diverse network of equally innovative and ecologically responsible entrepreneurs. The platform allows us a constant exchange with like-minded people and a breeding ground for new ideas to make everyday life in the company even more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

With the help of these environmental programmes and initiatives, we have managed to reduce our ecological footprint as much as possible. To compensate for the unavoidable remaining emissions, we have extensively searched for a suitable partner. Transparency, traceability, and the reliability that our money really flows into the designated projects and that actual compensation takes place, is very important to us. With FORLIANCE (formerly Forest Finest Consulting and CO2OL), we have found a competent and authentic partner. We are currently involved in a renaturation project of two peatland regions in Germany (Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg) and an internationally recognised peatland forest project in Indonesia (Kalimantan). Although peatlands only account for about 3% of the world’s surface area, they store twice as much carbon dioxide as all the world’s forests put together. The renaturation, conservation and rewatering that we support ensures that the peatlands are preserved and rebuilt as a global CO2 reservoir.

Author: Marc Eulen