Carbon footprint

Uncommon card · No. 139892

A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that allows the comparison of the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. An organization's carbon footprint includes the direct and indirect emissions it causes. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (for carbon accounting of organizations) calls these Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. There are several methodologies and online tools to calculate the carbon footprint. They depend on whether the focus is on a country, organization, product or individual person. For example, the carbon footprint of a product could help consumers decide which product to buy if they want to be climate aware. For climate change mitigation activities, the carbon footprint can help distinguish those economic activities with a high footprint from those with a low footprint. So the carbon footprint concept allows everyone to make comparisons between the climate impacts of individuals, products...

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