What is the carbon footprint?

We consume electricity, are mobile and heat - this produces emissions that affect our atmosphere and burden the climate. They can be calculated and expressed in CO2 equivalents. Methane, for example, is another gas besides CO2 that is released in excessive quantities by human activity. 1g of methane is about 25 times more climate-impacting than 1g of CO2. 1g of methane therefore results in 25g of CO2 equivalents.

The carbon footprint summarizes all emissions of a specific entity, e.g. a person, institution or product.

But it's not only when we actually fly by plane or buy a new cell phone that emissions are released. So many greenhouse gases are also produced during the construction of infrastructure, the extraction and processing of raw materials, and later during transport and disposal that the climate changes and ecosystems are at risk. All emissions from this so-called life cycle of a product or activity are included in the carbon footprint.