Sustainability & Climate Neutrality

We are dedicated to educating world citizens for a better and sustainable future and are committed to the goals of the United Nations. These 17 global goals were ratified by 193 countries and are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

The most sustainable way ISHR can support these goals is to teach our students the values they incorporate. At ISHR we aim to be good role models by taking action to protect our climate.

Over the past years the following measures have been implemented:

Purchased 100% green electricity from renewable sources
Installed an individual room heating control to save energy
Insulated the ceilings of our listed buildings to reduce heating costs
Installed a new, more efficient compact heating station
Replaced lights in several areas of the school with LED technology
Reduced copy paper and electricity consumption through a modern copy management system
Created incentives for staff to use public transport by offering a job ticket

Fokus Zukunft

Da keine Schule CO2-Emissionen vollständig vermeiden kann, hat die ISHR in Zusammenarbeit mit der Klimaagentur “Fokus Zukunft” die verbleibende CO2-Produktion messen und analysieren lassen.

Das Ergebnis dieser Arbeit war, dass die ISHR im Jahr 2022 insgesamt 288 Tonnen CO2 emittierte, was 2,22 Tonnen pro Mitarbeiter:in entspricht und im Vergleich zu anderen Bildungseinrichtungen sehr niedrig ist.

Um die verbleibende CO2-Belastung auszugleichen, hat die ISHR offiziell qualifizierte Zertifikate erworben. Mit dem Geld, das für diese Zertifikate ausgegeben wird, werden Klimaschutzinvestitionen dort gefördert, wo sie am nötigsten sind:

288 Zertifikate aus den Projekten:

VCS-Kochherd Kenia
VCS Wasser Indien
VCS & CCBS Wald Brasilien

You might ask yourself, what good does it do to produce CO2 in Germany and compensate for it in parts of the world that are far away? Well, this is our shared world, but every Euro we spend goes much further in Uganda, for example, than it does here, or with our immediate neighbors in Western Europe.

This does not stop us from working for a cleaner environment on our doorstep and we will continue to look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint further.

Join us in protecting our environment because there is no planet B!

FAQ

Hier finden Sie die Antworten auf Ihre Fragen:

Warum sind wir ein klimaneutrales Unternehmen?

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity since the end of the Ice Age and is the defining task of our time. The consequences of global warming are becoming increasingly tangible and the pressure on politicians and companies is growing – not least due to the Fridays for Future movement.

The success of emission reductions depends to a large extent on the voluntary and consistent action of industry in the industrialized countries. The International School Hannover Region has therefore decided to take responsibility for the world we leave to our children and grandchildren.

For this reason, with the help of the consultants of Fokus Zukunft GmbH we have recorded all greenhouse gas emissions emitted by our company, and offset them by purchasing a total of 288 climate protection certificates for the 2022. With these certificates, we support distribution of improved cookstoves in Latin America or promote imporved cooking practices in Nigeria, which has been certified according to the Verified Carbon Standard; under the sovereignty of the United Nations through CER; through the Gold Standard.

We are aware of our special responsibility as a school towards future generations and have acted accordingly. The impact of ISHR on the climate has been determined for us by Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. KG: Our CO₂ footprint is approximately 288 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year. On average, a person in Germany causes about 11.6 tons of CO₂ per year through his or her lifestyle.

Greenhouse gases are evenly distributed in the atmosphere. Therefore, it makes sense to avoid emissions where the costs are lowest. In addition, projects in emerging and developing countries help to improve the economic, social and ecological situation and support the realization of the sustainability goals of the United Nations. For emerging and developing countries, emissions trading is a key driver for the transfer of clean technologies and sustainable economic development.

Warum kümmert sich ISHR um den globalen Klimaschutz?

The international community has agreed that global warming must be limited to below 2 degrees Celsius – or even better still to 1.5 degrees – to prevent catastrophic consequences. However, the current pledges made by individual states are only sufficient to limit global warming to a maximum of 4 degrees. Closing this ambition gap will require additional and substantial commitment from businesses and citizens.

We have recognized that voluntary emission reductions and the compensation of unavoidable emissions are essential to effectively counteract climate change. That is why we have decided to neutralize our CO₂ emissions and thus want to make a contribution to a future worth living. Because we not only want to analyze the problems, but also tackle and solve them.

Wie wird der Kohlenstoff-Fußabdruck gemessen?

The carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases (measured in CO₂ equivalents) produced directly and indirectly, through an activity of an individual, a company, an organization or a product. It includes the resulting emissions from raw materials, production, transport, trade, use, recycling and disposal.

The basic idea behind the carbon footprint is therefore to create a basis on which influences on the climate can be measured, evaluated and compared. In this way, necessary reduction potentials can be identified, measures developed, and their effectiveness evaluated.

Was bedeutet Klimaneutralität?

According to the principle of the “Clean Development Mechanism” described in the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gases that are emitted in one place on earth and cannot be avoided should be saved by climate protection projects in another place. To finance these, companies buy certificates for corresponding climate protection projects from the six available project sectors (biomass, cooking stoves, solar energy, forest protection, hydropower and wind energy). Each certificate represents 1 ton of CO₂ saved by the respective project.

There are numerous climate protection projects worldwide, most of which support renewable energy projects. The initiators of these projects receive emission credits for their commitment, which can be traded in the form of climate protection certificates. The amount is measured, for example, by comparing it with the emissions that would have resulted from the construction of a coal-fired power plant.

Wie wurde die Menge der CO2-Emissionen unseres Unternehmens berechnet?

We commissioned the external sustainability consulting firm Fokus Zukunft to calculate our company’s footprint.

The emissions balance was calculated using the official Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidelines.

Was muss im Rahmen des Treibhausgasprotokolls gemeldet werden?

Im Rahmen des Treibhausgasprotokolls werden die Emissionen in die Bereiche 1, 2 und 3 unterteilt, die jeweils verschiedene Arten von Treibhausgasemissionen abdecken. Scope 1 umfasst direkte Emissionen aus eigenen Energieanlagen. Scope 2 umfasst Emissionen, die indirekt durch die Bereitstellung von Energie für das Unternehmen verursacht werden. Scope 3-Emissionen sind andere indirekte Emissionen, die entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette entstehen.

Welche Treibhausgase werden in die Berechnung einbezogen?

Die Berechnung der Treibhausgasemissionen umfasst die sieben wichtigsten Treibhausgase, die vom Zwischenstaatlichen Sachverständigenrat für Klimaänderungen (IPCC) und dem Kyoto-Protokoll definiert wurden: Kohlendioxid (_CO2), Methan (CH4), Distickstoffoxid (N2O), Fluorkohlenwasserstoffe (HFC), perfluorierte Kohlenwasserstoffe (PFC), Stickstofftrifluorid (_NF3) und Schwefelhexafluorid (_SF6).

Was bedeutet "CO2-Äquivalente"?

Nicht alle der sieben wichtigsten Treibhausgase sind gleich wirksam. Methan zum Beispiel ist 21-mal klimaschädlicher als _CO2, Distickstoffoxid 310-mal und Schwefelhexafluorid sogar 14.000-mal. Um die Emissionen vergleichen zu können, werden daher alle Treibhausgase in _CO2 umgerechnet. Diese werden dann als _{CO2-Äquivalente} bezeichnet.

Wie werden die erhobenen Verbrauchsdaten in Treibhausgasemissionen umgerechnet?

Die Umrechnung der gesammelten Verbrauchsdaten (z. B. Strom- oder Kraftstoffverbrauch) erfolgt mit Hilfe von Emissionsfaktoren, die die Emissionen pro Einheit (z. B. pro Kilowattstunde Strom oder Liter Benzin) angeben. Die Emissionsfaktoren stammen hauptsächlich vom DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), aber auch aus der GEMIS-Datenbank (Global Emissions Model of Integrated Systems, IINAS) sowie aus der Ecoinvent-Datenbank und werden regelmäßig aktualisiert.

Wie werden die Emissionszertifikate generiert?

Die Initiatoren von Klimaschutzprojekten – vor allem Erneuerbare-Energien-Projekte – erhalten für ihr Engagement Emissionsgutschriften, die in Form von Klimaschutzzertifikaten gehandelt werden können. Die Höhe des Emissionsausgleichs wird beispielsweise durch einen Vergleich mit den Emissionen gemessen, die beim Bau eines Kohlekraftwerks anstelle der Erzeugung von Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien entstanden wären.

Welche Qualitätskriterien erfüllen die Klimaschutzprojekte?

Die von uns eingekauften Klimaschutzprojekte sind nach einem der drei international anerkannten Zertifizierungsstandards – VCS (Verified Carbon Standard), UN CER (Certified Emission Reduction of the United Nations) oder dem vom WWF entwickelten Gold Standard – akkreditiert, zugelassen und kontrolliert. Die Validierung der Projektergebnisse im Hinblick auf die erzielten _{CO2-Einsparungen} wird von unabhängigen Prüfstellen, wie dem deutschen TÜV, zertifiziert.

Was geschieht mit den CO2-Zertifikaten, nachdem sie gekauft worden sind?

Die erworbene Anzahl von _{CO2-Zertifikaten} wird stillgelegt. Dies ist wichtig, weil diese Stilllegung eine Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung und Vermarktung von _{CO2-neutralen} Unternehmen und/oder Produkten ist. Ohne Stilllegung könnte ein _{CO2-Zertifikat} möglicherweise weiterhin auf dem freiwilligen Markt gehandelt werden, was zu keiner zusätzlichen Emissionsreduzierung führen würde.

Welche Projekte werden durch die erworbenen Zertifikate unterstützt?

With a total number of 288 certificates we support five projects all over the world which has been certified according to the Verified Carbon Standard; under the sovereignty of the United Nations through CER; through the Gold Standard.

You can find the exact project descriptions at: https://www.fokus-zukunft.com/klimaschutzprojekte.html

Warum werden internationale Projekte unterstützt?

Climate change is a global issue, so it does not matter where CO₂ emissions are emitted or saved, in the end the sum of greenhouse gases is decisive. In Germany, the reduction or compensation of CO₂is very expensive, but in emerging and developing countries the compensation is cheaper. The Kyoto Protocol, which is binding under international law, therefore stipulates that so-called climate protection projects that avoid or store greenhouse gas emissions should take place where they are most economical.

Accordingly, there are many projects in newly industrializing and developing countries, as the potential for savings through new technologies is still very high there and they can be used much more cost-effectively. In addition, the conditions for renewable energy plants (solar, wind, hydro and biomass) are often much more advantageous there. Furthermore, the projects in emerging and developing countries contribute to improving the economic, social and ecological situation and support the realisation of the sustainability goals of the United Nations. For emerging and developing countries, emissions trading is a key driver for the transfer of clean technologies and sustainably oriented economic development.