Toward a Low-Carbon Economy: The
Clim’Foot Project Approach
for the Organization’s Carbon Footprint
Simona Scalbi, Patrizia Buttol, Arianna Dominici Loprieno, Gioia Garavini,
Erika Mancuso, Francesca Reale, and Alessandra Zamagni
Abstract The EU Emission Trading System (ETS) represents an essential part of
the European policies on Climate Change, targeting the most polluting organizations,
which cover 45% of the GHG emissions. However, no common framework has been
proposed yet for “non-ETS organizations.” The reduction of direct emissions in most
of the cases is not enough for significantly tackling climate change, but an approach
that encompasses also indirect emissions should be adopted, as promoted in the
Carbon Footprint of Organisations (CFO), for achieving the ambitious targets set
in the European Green Deal. The application of the CFO supports organizations in
defining and monitoring the effects of mitigation actions: thanks to CFO, organizations are encouraged to innovate their management system, improve the use of
resources, strengthen relationships in the supply chain, beside obtaining a reduction
of their costs. In this context, the LIFE Clim’Foot project has given a contribution
to foster public policies for calculation and reduction of the CFO. The project has
dealt with two key aspects: (i) the need for national policies addressing GHG emissions of non-ETS organizations and the strategic role of structured and robust tools,
such as national databases of Emission Factors; (ii) the relevance of organizations’
S. Scalbi (B) · P. Buttol · A. Dominici Loprieno · E. Mancuso
Laboratory Resources Valorisation, ENEA, Rome, Italy
e-mail: simona.scalbi@enea.it
P. Buttol
e-mail: patrizia.buttol@enea.it
A. Dominici Loprieno
e-mail: arianna.dominici@enea.it
E. Mancuso
e-mail: erika.mancuso@enea.it
G. Garavini · F. Reale · A. Zamagni
Ecoinnovazione s.r.l., Via Ferrarese 3, 40128 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: g.garavini@ecoinnovazione.it
F. Reale
e-mail: f.reale@ecoinnovazione.it
A. Zamagni
e-mail: a.zamagni@ecoinnovazione.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), LCA Based Carbon Footprint Assessment, Environmental Footprints
and Eco-design of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4373-3_4
71
Clim’Foot Project Approach
for the Organization’s Carbon Footprint
Simona Scalbi, Patrizia Buttol, Arianna Dominici Loprieno, Gioia Garavini,
Erika Mancuso, Francesca Reale, and Alessandra Zamagni
Abstract The EU Emission Trading System (ETS) represents an essential part of
the European policies on Climate Change, targeting the most polluting organizations,
which cover 45% of the GHG emissions. However, no common framework has been
proposed yet for “non-ETS organizations.” The reduction of direct emissions in most
of the cases is not enough for significantly tackling climate change, but an approach
that encompasses also indirect emissions should be adopted, as promoted in the
Carbon Footprint of Organisations (CFO), for achieving the ambitious targets set
in the European Green Deal. The application of the CFO supports organizations in
defining and monitoring the effects of mitigation actions: thanks to CFO, organizations are encouraged to innovate their management system, improve the use of
resources, strengthen relationships in the supply chain, beside obtaining a reduction
of their costs. In this context, the LIFE Clim’Foot project has given a contribution
to foster public policies for calculation and reduction of the CFO. The project has
dealt with two key aspects: (i) the need for national policies addressing GHG emissions of non-ETS organizations and the strategic role of structured and robust tools,
such as national databases of Emission Factors; (ii) the relevance of organizations’
S. Scalbi (B) · P. Buttol · A. Dominici Loprieno · E. Mancuso
Laboratory Resources Valorisation, ENEA, Rome, Italy
e-mail: simona.scalbi@enea.it
P. Buttol
e-mail: patrizia.buttol@enea.it
A. Dominici Loprieno
e-mail: arianna.dominici@enea.it
E. Mancuso
e-mail: erika.mancuso@enea.it
G. Garavini · F. Reale · A. Zamagni
Ecoinnovazione s.r.l., Via Ferrarese 3, 40128 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: g.garavini@ecoinnovazione.it
F. Reale
e-mail: f.reale@ecoinnovazione.it
A. Zamagni
e-mail: a.zamagni@ecoinnovazione.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), LCA Based Carbon Footprint Assessment, Environmental Footprints
and Eco-design of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4373-3_4
71