In an unprecedented action, Comerc neutralizes CO2 emissions from employees

O Comerc Energia Group promoted an unprecedented campaign to neutralize your employees’ CO2 emissions, with the aim of fostering a sustainable organizational culture.

The action consisted of the acquisition of 712 I-REC (international renewable energy tracking system) to neutralize 89 tons of CO2, representing a total of 32% of the company's workforce.

According to the Totum Institute, the body responsible for certifying all I-RECs sold in Brazil, the initiative to grant certificates to individuals is a pioneer in the country and shows the importance of raising everyone's awareness of sustainable practices.

“We have very prominent factors in this action by Comerc, as there are few companies that understand that the consumption of electricity during home office activities is also their responsibility. And yet, Comerc went further, neutralizing not only a portion of its employees' electricity bills, but the entire bill”, highlights Fernando Lopes, director of the Totum Institute.

Understanding that, with the pandemic and the emergence of hybrid work/home office, energy consumption in homes can also be seen as arising from professional activity, Comerc decided to neutralize the carbon emissions of its employees at no cost to them.

And this happened simply: interested parties sent an electricity bill for their home, and the company calculated an average annual expense for each employee, as well as the number of I-REC certificates needed for this consumption to be neutralized.

To give you an idea, for every MWh (megawatt hour) of untracked energy, the company or person adds around 125 kg of CO₂ to their carbon footprint.

In other words, in an average standard residence in Brazil, with consumption of 2 to 4 MWh per year, we can consider that Comerc was responsible for reducing the carbon footprint in the order of 375 kg of CO2 per employee throughout the year.