Green light to the new Register of Carbon Footprints

Acting upon a proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Council of Ministers approved last Friday a Royal Decree giving birth to the National Registry of Carbon Footprints, that will include the registration of Offsets and Carbon Dioxide Absorption Projects.

The calculation of the carbon footprint is a very useful parameter not only to realize that all activities involve emissions of greenhouse gases but also to allow companies and citizens to take action to reduce them.

The objective of the Registry is that companies can calculate and reduce their carbon footprint while carrying out a voluntary registration thereof. Subsequently, they may offset such footprint through absorption projects or forest sinks located in Spain, which will also promote the creation of forests that will absorb CO2.

This will allow for a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases and help Spain to meet the European 2020 objectives in the fight against climate change, as well as other international and Kyoto Protocol based goals.

The Royal Decree approved last Friday creates a Register having three Sections. The first Section is aimed at companies that calculate their carbon footprints and want to register them officially. These companies will be granted a national quality certification seal. The second Section will list companies and organizations that have forest projects in Spain, while the third section will allows companies that want to offset their carbon footprints to contact other companies developing projects in the national territory, so that such set off is made in Spain, through Spanish forest sinks.

We will follow closely the developments in the activities of this Register