Introduction
Pond Foundation
This report provides a summary of the estimated greenhouse gas emissions from Pond Foundation ’s operations in 2022, and their Lifetime Carbon Balance (LCB) since 2020.
Table 1. PondFoundation’s company information table
System Boundaries
System boundaries for GHG reporting can fall under two approaches, the control, and the share-percentage approach.Under the control approach, a company takes responsibility for emissions from entities that are under their operational or financial control. Under the share-percentage approach, the company takes responsibility for the emissions from all entities that they invest in, proportional to the share they hold, whether they have control or not.
Organisational boundaries
System boundaries for this GHG report were defined by the control approach, covering all entities where Pond Foundation has operational and financial control.
Reporting boundaries
The GHG accounting and reporting procedure is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting andReporting Standard Revised Edition (GHG Protocol), the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions. It was developed in a partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World BusinessCouncil for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 2004.
According to the GHG Protocol, emissions are divided into direct and indirect emissions. Direct emissions are emissions originating from owned or controlled sources by the reporting entity.Indirect emissions are generated because of the reporting entity’s activities, yet they occur at sources owned or controlled by another entity. The direct and indirect emissions are:
- Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions, such as combustion of fuels in stationary and mobile sources, of which Pond Foundation has none. These would primarily arise from transportation or refrigeration of goods for a retail business.
- Scope 2: Indirect GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat or cooling consumed by the company. This includes electricity, heat or cooling consumed during working hours from a remote-working location (eg. employees’ home).
- Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as business/commuter travels,IT equipment (production, use, and end-of-life emissions), waste, paper, investments, leased assets, assets under management (see page 7), and many more.Reporting Scope 3 emissions is officially optional, but for most businesses, this is the largest source of emissions.
Significant indirect emission sources for quantification in this report were selected by assigning values to each know emission source according to access and quality of data, level of influence, frequency of emission generation, sector-specific guidance, risk/opportunity, and outsourcing. Values were assigned to emission factors based on the criteria described in Annex II, and emission sources with cumulative significance values of 10 or above were quantified in this 2022 report
Accounting principles
The GHG accounting was based on the ISO14061-1 accounting principles of:
• Relevance: Select the GHG sources, GHG sinks, GHG reservoirs, data and methodologies appropriate to the needs of the intended user.
• Completeness: Include all relevant GHG emissions and removals.
• Consistency: Enable meaningful comparisons in GHG-related information.
• Accuracy: Reduce bias and uncertainties as far as is practical.
• Transparency: Disclose sufficient and appropriate GHG-related information to allow intended users to make decisions with reasonable confidence.
Global warming potentials
Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of the climate impact of a GHG compared to carbon dioxide over a time horizon. For GWP 100, which is used in this report, the time horizon is 100years. GHGs have different GWP values depending on their efficiency to absorb longwave radiation and the atmospheric lifetime of the gas. The GWP expresses the different GHGs as CO2-equivalents. The GWP values used in the GHG accounting are the six GHGs covered by the Kyoto Protocol and are presented in table 2.
Table 2. Applied global warming potentials
Data inventory
Data for this GHG reporting exercise was collected through a company-wide employee survey, recording information about business travel, hotel stays, and work-from-home rate. See Annex III fora summary of quantification approaches and GHG conversion factor sources.
Results – 2022
Summary of emission sources
GHG emissions from 2022 were estimated in-depth, by scope and emission source and are outlined below. The total annual emission figures from these were used to estimate Pond Foundation’sLCB.
The total GHG emissions from PondFoundation ’s operations in 2022 were found to be 28.83 tCO2e – at approximately 3.2 tCO2e per full-time employee per year.
See Figure 1 for a summary of key emission sources:
Uncertainty assessment
IT device usage
In order to calculate device usage figures, it was assumed that every employee would have, one phone and one laptop. For the purpose of our calculations, the emissions data for an average iPhone 12 andMacBook Pro were used. It also assumed that the average device (as listed) has a lifespan of 5 years.
Working From Home
For full-time employees, the total number of working weeks in 2022 was collected and an 8-hour workday was assumed for 5days of each week in 2022. There was no office space usage during this reporting period so employees remained in their houses for the full work day. Due to 6 out of 9 PF employees currently holding a part-time internship position within the company, a 16-hour work week from the start of employment was used to calculate their impacts.
Emissions figures estimating the average energy usage for heating and office equipment were used. In this period, calculations don't take energy type, number of bedrooms or energy ratings into consideration, due to a lack of international data on energy usage. This results in a lower certainty in home working emission figures.
Business Travel
Calculations assume that the designated mode of transport ‘Train/Bus’ is a direct split between the average emissions of both transport by train (National Rail) and bus (Average Bus). For the ‘Car’ travel an average sized petrol car model was used, as no further detail was provided.
For plane travel, the total number of ‘long’,‘medium’ and ‘short’ [See Page 9] flight distances were used to calculate emissions following figures and guidance from DEFRA. A median distance of each respective category of flight length was taken, rather than collecting exact flight distances, increasing uncertainties.
Hotel Stays
To gather data about hotel stays, the location and duration of night stays per country were collected through an internal employee survey. Emissions data was calculated using DEFRA conversion factors for hotel stays. No country-specific hotel conversion factor was available for Cote d’Ivoire andGhana, so an average hotel stay conversion factor figure was used.
Pond Foundation’s LCB was calculated by summing the annual GHG emissions, as reported each year since inception.Annual emissions estimates can be found below in table 8.
To ensure we don’t underestimate our members’ LCB, we apply a 20% uplift to their total calculated lifetime GHG emissions. We do this because the data we use, while based on scientific papers, are nonetheless estimates. The 20% helps us ensure our members are on the right side of any variations. Applying this 20% uplift to Pond Foundation ’sLifetime Carbon Balance calculation brings Pond Foundation ’s current carbon impact to 41.80 tCO2e as of 31st of December 2022.
LCB timeline
This timeline below scales the base-yearGHG emissions for 2022 since Pond Foundation’s inception.
Table 8. Timeline of annual GHG emissions
What does this mean for Pond Foundation?
This carbon emissions ‘report is the first step on Pond Foundation’ My Carbon Zero journey and will be updated annually with your continued membership with Pond Foundation. We offer our services to guide your business ‘carbon reduction strategy and investments in a great selection of carbon projects. Given Pond Foundation’s carbon footprint, having a negative carbon footprint (climate positive) is mere steps away, which is an incredibly powerful thing!
It is key for Pond Foundation to limit your remissions as it grows, aiming to decrease the emissions per employee. PondFoundation’s Carbon Balance Sheet can be found just below – this is how you will track your carbon reduction and investment actions! Following this, outline a potential RRRI strategy for Pond Foundation to follow so that future emissions are limited, and your carbon is balanced. Thank you for taking credible climate action with us!
Pond Foundation ’s Carbon Balance Sheet (CBS) as of 2022
To be filled in as Pond Foundation makes carbon investments and reduces its emissions.
RRRI Strategy – Introduction
We recommend companies take RRRI actions through their Carbon Investment Portfolio(CIP). This means Reducing their carbon emissions, reducing emissions elsewhere, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and Inspiring others to do the same.
Pond Foundation can create a full emission reduction plan for members, including emission projections and suggested targets, as an additional service. Key elements of a My Carbon Zeroplan are detailed below.
R1 Actions
R1 Actions R1 Actions are emission reduction measures you take. Within this, we recommend a focus on the annual emissions per employee, which currently sits at 3.2 tCO2e per employee. Addressing emissions per employee is key to limiting Pond Foundation’s emissions as a business. Here is a suggested R1 Actions plan:
1. Set a per-employee emissions target. Aim for a 20% decrease by year-end – PondFoundation should aim to emit 2.55 tCO2e per employee, annually.
2. To meet this target, Pond Foundation can take the following measures:
a) Reduce business travel, especially by air.Business trips can be optimised for lower emissions by grouping activities in similar geographical locations into single trips, rather than several return journeys.
Reducing annual emissions is key to limiting Pond Foundation’s future operational emissions as a business and ensuring that Pond Foundation is compliant with the Science-Based Target Initiative(SBTi). SBTi requires minimum emissions targets of 50% by 2030, and 95% by 2050. PondFoundation is aligned with the SBTi, similarly focusing on emissions reduction with R1Actions, and goes further than the SBTi requires with R2 and R3 actions.
R2 Actions
R2 Actions are investments into projects that will reduce future emissions but do not sequester carbon directly (sponsoring education programs, renewable energy, forest conservation, and so on). These investments do not impact Pond Foundation’s carbon balance but can be extremely valuable for the future of our planet. We suggest the following R2 actions:
1. We recommend dedicating a proportion of the monthly carbon budget to R2 investments. For example, through partners and strategies such as Kiva.org, which have projects supporting girls ‘education and initiatives to provide safe and clean sanitation facilities for women in underprivileged areas.
2. If Pond Foundation would rather support another kind of R2 project, we can direct you to our Hilary’s kids Initiative, who have been implementing community development initiatives on agricultural projects across northern Ghana. Continued investment, donations and support will fund the implementation of 40 WaterSafe filtrations systems across all 25partner communities in 2023. In turn, providing safe drinking water for over4500 people.
R3 Actions – Carbon Investment Portfolio
R3 Actions are investments into projects which directly sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
Pond Foundation should choose to support anyone of their partner projects through carbon credits. credit for a project is a donation that will result in the sequestration of 1 tCO2e over varied periods. Taking strong action, PondFoundation should aim to be lifetime carbon zero by the end of 2022 by investing in 41 carbon credits from varied projects.
I Actions
We highly encourage that you inspire other businesses and individuals to act with us to maximise action on climate change from all areas of your professional networks. This can be the final element ofThe Pond Foundation’s 4-pronged climate action plan!
Annex I – Bibliography
1. “Apple”, accessed June 15, 2023, https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/iphone/iPhone_12_PER_Oct2020.pdf
2. Brown, H.C., Berninger, F.A., Larjavaara, M.and Appiah, M., 2020. Above-ground carbon stocks and timber value of old timberplantations, secondary and primary forests in southern Ghana. Forest ecology and management, 472, p.118236.
3. Departmentfor Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2022. Greenhouse gas reporting:conversion factors 2020, London: Crown.
4. Departmentfor Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2022. Subnational Electricityand Gas Consumption Statistics, London: National Statistics Office.
5. EcoAct:Homeworking Emissions Whitepaper. Website: https://info.eco-act.com/en/homeworking-emissions-whitepaper-2020.Accessed on 04/05/2022
6. Woolley, V., 2021. Indirect emissions-aconsequence of your organisation's activities but occur at sources owned orcontrolled by another.
7. “14-Inch MacBook Pro – Apple Inc..,” accessedJune 15, 2023, https://www.apple.com/in/environment/pdf/products/notebooks/14-inch_MacBook_Pro_PER_Oct2021.pdf
