Since 2020, Burda has been calculating its Corporate Carbon Footprint for the entire group on an annual basis. The goal is to optimise processes, prevent emissions and reduce them as far as possible through targeted measures.
The Corporate Carbon Footprint includes the emissions of all domestic and international companies in the UK, France, Poland, Czechia and Asia in which Burda holds more than 50 percent.
The corporate carbon footprint is calculated in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. All greenhouse gas emissions are included – not only CO2, but also methane and fluorinated gases.
Emissions are categorised into direct and indirect corporate emissions across all three scopes:
• Scope 1: direct emissions from Burda’s own combined heat and power plants for electricity and heat generation
• Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased energy
• Scope 3: other indirect emissions along the value chain, including e.g. logistics, business travel, printing materials and the use of sold products
In 2024, Burda’s total emissions amounted to 232,800 tonnes of CO2e.
For a detailed calculation of emissions, all relevant categories of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol have been included since 2023, and the database is continuously optimised. This led to a slight increase in the absolute figures for the corporate carbon footprint. However, an adjusted comparison shows a reduction of 4 per cent compared to the previous year. The savings are mainly due to effective reduction measures – such as the expansion of green electricity in Burda buildings and the use of lower-emission paper.
In 2024, Scope 1 accounted for 7 per cent of CO2e emissions, Scope 2 for 9 per cent and Scope 3 for 84 per cent.
Purchased services and goods such as printing materials accounted for a large proportion of emissions at 28 per cent, followed by paper at 27 per cent. The use of digital products such as websites and apps was responsible for 9 per cent of emissions.
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