Charles Dubouix & Anton Sviridkin Last update 25/01/2024
Avoided emissions
- Avoided emissions provide a clearer and more positive perspective to track environmental progress.
- They are key tools in strategic planning, combining with abatement cost analysis to help freight companies set and achieve emission goals effectively.
- While powerful, avoided emissions need to be used in reference with a methodical and rigorous framework to prevent greenwashing.
What are avoided emissions?
Avoided emissions are the greenhouse gases we don't release into the atmosphere, thanks to more efficient or more sustainable practices.
Avoided emissions show the difference between what could have been and what is, in terms of our environmental footprint.
Similar to emissions, avoided emissions are quantified in grams, kilograms, or tonnes of CO2e avoided.
Why do we need avoided emissions?
In line with the current Bilan Carbone methodologies, companies measure their environmental impact in tonnes of CO2e emitted, comparing these figures year on year to demonstrate their sustainability progress. However, this approach has its limitations. Focusing exclusively on CO2 emissions may provide an incomplete picture, since these figures can rise due to increased business activities, such as more shipments, which doesn't inherently suggest a regression in sustainability practices.
Avoided emissions represent a shift from merely reducing emissions to actively doing more good for the environment. Unlike the traditional method, which feels like an endless chase against increasing emissions, tracking avoided emissions is like measuring progress towards a clearer, more sustainable future. This approach not only highlights positive steps in decarbonization but also allows for meaningful comparisons between different sustainability strategies, emphasizing their impact in a clear and constructive way.
Additionally, when freight companies look at both the emissions they've avoided and the abatement costs (costs of emissions reduction) involved in doing so, they can figure out how much emissions they've stopped from being released and how much it cost them to achieve this.
Example
Consider a scenario where a shipping company transports one TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) container from Asia to France. Traditionally, using conventional fuels, this journey emits approximately 1.2 tonnes of CO2e per container. This is our baseline scenario.
Switching to biofuel, the company can reduce these emissions by 84%. So, for the same journey, emissions drop to just 0.192 tonnes of CO2e per container.
If the company ships one container every week for a year, traditionally, it would emit 62 tonnes of CO2e. With biofuel, this drops to about 10 tonnes of CO2e. The annual avoided emissions here amount to 52 tonnes of CO2e.
- Not riding 239,000 km in a diesel car
- Not eating 7,163 beef meals
Methodology
Avoided emissions can vary a lot depending on the methodology (reference scenario). This is why it's essential to employ a thorough and clear methodology for calculating avoided emissions.
How to communicate on Avoided Emissions
In order to use the metric correctly and avoid greenwashing, Net Zero Initiative in their “pillar B guide” indicate several guidelines to be followed:
Bad Practices | Good Practices |
“We have avoided 100 tCO2e this year.” | “We have avoided 100 tCO2e this year thanks to products representing 17% of our sales.”
”For a ton of CO2e emitted in our value chain, our solutions avoid 2.3 tons of CO2e.” |
“We are carbon neutral: we avoid as many emissions as we emit.” | “Our Carbon Impact Ratio (CIR) is 1: we avoid as many emissions as we emit.” |