More and more people are shopping online. And more and more people want sustainability not to be neglected in the process. At MS Direct, we are committed to making e-commerce and environmental protection more compatible. This is the second time we have been certified as a “climate-neutral service provider”. But what does that mean exactly and how do we differ from a “climate-neutral company”? We enlighten you.
The path to climate neutrality always starts with the analysis of the carbon footprint. For this purpose, three areas – the so-called scopes – can be considered:
Scope 1These are all direct emissions generated by the company’s activities, for example by its own vehicle fleet.
Scope 2: These are the indirect emissions caused, for example, by electricity or heat that companies purchase from utilities.
Scope 3: These are a wide range of indirect emissions that occur along the entire value chain, for example through logistics, business travel, or employee commuting.
In order to achieve climate neutrality, companies must in any case consider the first two areas and derive the appropriate measures for reducing their CO2 emissions as well as compensation for unavoidable emissions. However, we wanted to go one step further and be certified not only as a “climate-neutral company” but also as a “climate-neutral service provider”. Finally, a large part of our carbon footprint is generated in the third area, for example in the transport of goods for our customers.
A holistic climate protection strategy.
So for 2020, we looked at all three scopes for the first time. We were happy to accept the additional effort required to make our contribution to achieving the sub-two degree target of international climate policy. With the help of the data collected in this way, we developed a holistic climate protection strategy together with the experts from ClimatePartner.
This strategy includes, on the one hand, reducing our CO2 emissions wherever possible. To offset the emissions that cannot be avoided, we have supported a wind energy project in India. And our commitment continues. Not only that we are currently looking at the year 2021 in order to once again secure the title of “climate-neutral service provider”. We have also joined the Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi, committing ourselves to setting science-based targets on climate change. We will tell you more about this in a later blog post.
With our certification as a climate-neutral service provider and our commitment to SBTi, we are among the pioneers in our industry in the DACH region. Our customers also benefit from this. Because at a time when more and more end consumers are attaching importance to sustainable action, they can join us in sending a clear signal for more environmentally friendly online retailing.