NBS Communications is probably the first PR agency in Poland to monitor the total greenhouse gas emissions generated directly or indirectly by its operations. NBS will calculate its own carbon footprint on an ongoing basis, so it can consciously manage and minimize its environmental impact. The agency will encourage its clients to take similar steps. NBS also plans to cut its emissions each year going forward.
“At NBS, we have long taken a serious approach to climate change,” said Piotr Wojtaszek, CEO of NBS Communications. “We eagerly engage in ecological initiatives and join our clients’ projects seeking to cut or compensate for the negative environmental impact of their operations. Together we have planted numerous trees and organized recycling workshops and zero-waste events, and we have even supported the installation of beehives on the roofs of office buildings. We work every day for companies and institutions offering green financial products, implementing renewable energy projects, and supporting the growth of electromobility.”
The agency also supports clients in preparing for carbon reporting as a sustainability measure. Under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, this duty will apply to a broader and broader set of companies, beginning with reports for 2024.
Wojtaszek added: “On the eve of this year’s Earth Day, we would like to let all our partners know that we are now monitoring NBS’s own carbon footprint on an ongoing basis, so that we can consciously manage it and minimize the environmental impact of our activity. Based on our own experiences, we are happy to advise clients who aren’t sure where to begin when it comes to calculating their emissions.”
In line with international standards
NBS Communications calculates its carbon footprint using the certified tool Envirly, in compliance with international standards GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1.
The agency’s total emissions in 2022, calculated under the guidelines of GHG Protocol in scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3, i.e. also including indirect emissions in the supply chain, were 204.4 tonnes CO2-eq (carbon dioxide equivalent, a universal unit of measurement for greenhouse gas emissions, reflecting the differing global-warming potential of various gases).
According to Krzysztof Woch, who is coordinating the project at NBS Communications, “That’s as much as the average annual emissions attributable to 23 residents of Poland. For the service industry, this is a relatively low value, but all emissions of greenhouse gases have some negative impact on the environment, and thus we are seeking to minimize emissions.”
The vast majority of the emissions of NBS Communications (over 90% in 2022) involve the office space leased by the agency.
“These are so-called scope 3 emissions, over which we do not have a direct influence,” Woch explained. “Although we use energy-saving solutions in our office, the decisions on such matters as the source for purchasing electricity are up to the building manager.”
Under the adopted standards, in this situation the carbon footprint is calculated based on the area occupied by the tenant applying appropriate emissions factors. “We believe that the good of the environment is important to all of us, and we are discussing with the administrator of the building the idea of gradually introducing further energy-saving solutions which will reduce the emissions of the entire building,” Woch added
Greener commuting
One area where NBS wants to cut its environmental impact is transportation, which obviously requires the engagement of the whole team. NBS employees already favour ecological means of commuting to work, with two-thirds of trips in 2022 carried out using municipal transit.
According to the CEO, “Last year our commuting to work generated nearly 1.1 T CO2-eq, or an average of about 92 kg CO2-eq per person, as a large percentage of the staff use mass transit and switch to bikes in the warmer months. Despite a good score on this metric, our team wants to improve it further, and thus our aim in 2023 is to cut our carbon footprint from commuting to work by 10–15% per employee. We are also examining our business trips, and where possible we will seek the most ecological means of travel.”
The agency intends to partially compensate for its carbon footprint in areas over which it has little or no direct influence. To this end it intends for example to participate in the autumn round of tree-planting in Warsaw forests.
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Envirly is a solution in the form of a web platform for managing the carbon footprint of organizations and reporting non-financial sustainability data. It supports firms in gathering data, analysing and monitoring emissions, setting reduction targets and tracking implementation. Envirly holds certifications for compliance with international standards GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1. More at https://envirly.pl
[1] eqCO2, or carbon dioxide equivalent, is the universal unit for measuring greenhouse gas emissions, reflecting their different rates of global warming.
