Consumption, Production… or Perfection? Exploring Approaches to Carbon Footprinting in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Organisations of all types are significant contributors to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the carbon emissions of organisations are typically assessed through hybrid environmentally extended input-output—life cycle analysis. The design of these models means that double counting is inherent and, were all institutions to report their carbon footprint, the cumulative figure would be grossly inflated. Knowing the full extent of environmental impact is important in the decision making process to implement sustainability initiatives. However, on the basis of comparing with peers and contributing to national carbon accounts, the model falls short of requirements. For universities, where activity is dominated by the consumption of resources, producing and reporting the carbon footprint is plagued by potential double counting, as well as vast data collections which are too cumbersome for institutions to manage. To find the most suitable approach for higher education, this paper explores the attributes of the organisational carbon footprinting methodologies available to simultaneously avoid double counting and lessen data management issues. The former can be eradicated if activities are allocated on either a consumption or production basis; however footprinting is streamlined for universities if a production based footprint is chosen. Universities should not defer from their responsibility to sustainable consumption and so for internal purposes, efforts to understand the full breadth of emissions in which they indirectly influence are deemed important.