What is your carbon shoe size?

November 5, 2021. – During this week countries have discussed mitigating actions in the Glasgow Climate Change Conference. Decisions and promises have been made, but the reality depends on the country-level actions. At least as important are voluntary actions of individual companies and people. Companies want to differentiate from competitors, and green values offer one approach to that.

In the 1990’s FSC and PEFC emerged for sustainable forest management. Everybody agreed about the good purpose, but the deployment of these certification systems wasn’t quick nor easy. Now they’ve become part of normal and established procedure, though there is plenty of room for improvement.

Is there a need for similar systems for carbon footprint? Would customers be interested in companies whose carbon footprint is lower? Twenty years ago the question was that are customers willing to pay more for certified raw material. Similar discussion is probable with carbon footprint.

Customers should be able to compare suppliers. If companies calculate their carbon footprint by different methods, the trustworthiness is low. Uncomparable results are just loose advertising promises.

It will be interesting to see how wood panel companies utilise this opportunity. In any case, this is a project where everyone’s contribution is appreciated.