21 February 2020 – Amman, Jordan: Generations For Peace has completed a certified process to calculate its carbon emissions, review and reduce its carbon footprint, and offset remaining carbon emissions, allowing the international peacebuilding organisation to achieve a “Net Zero” Carbon Footprint for the first time.
Whilst working towards Zero carbon emissions by reducing the use of non-renewable energy, Generations For Peace is also investing in a global portfolio of verified carbon reduction projects, reducing the organisation’s carbon emissions by 189.6 tonnes.
Stressing the importance of taking action to sustain the environment, Mark Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Generations For Peace, stated: “I believe it is the urgent responsibility of every government, every organisation and every household to assess and reduce their carbon footprint, ultimately to reduce to zero the amount of carbon emissions which our activities produce, damaging the environment and worsening the climate emergency. Our staff and volunteers are passionate about this too and share this sense of responsibility. We want GFP to be a leader in this, and to set an example. We must walk the talk.”
“So, we are proud to have taken this first step to calculate and to offset our carbon emissions,” he continued. “For 2019 our carbon footprint was 189.6 tonnes CO2e, which are primarily related to our electricity usage, vehicles/fuel usage, and air travel. That sets our baseline. Because we already make extensive use of solar power at our headquarters, our baseline is relatively good, being approximately 2.9 tonnes per employee compared with an average for an office-based organisation of 3.5 tonnes per employee.
But we want ultimately to reduce that closer to Zero. Reductions in non-renewable electricity usage (more use of solar and other renewables) and reductions in vehicle/fuel usage (through electric vehicles) are possible, but reducing air travel will be harder because much of our international work depends on air travel. Whilst working towards actual Zero, we have achieved ‘Net Zero’ by offsetting our carbon emissions by investing in a global portfolio of verified carbon reduction projects. A small investment of GBP 1,137 [JOD 1,046 / USD 1,475] offset our 189.6 tonnes for 2019. This is a very cost-effective option which we would encourage all organisations to consider.
We can now proudly state that GFP has achieved “Net Zero” Carbon Footprint, and we are committed to maintaining Net Zero each year.”
By taking action, Generations For Peace hopes to inspire other organisations and lead the way towards a more sustainable environment for generations to come.
