For the first time in its history, the State Forests have calculated the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the organization. This task was completed as part of the Carbon Forests development project. This knowledge will enable actions to reduce emissions.
The inventory covered Scopes 1 and 2 of carbon footprint reporting for the year 2023. Scope 1 includes direct emissions resulting from the combustion of fuels in vehicles, buildings, equipment, and tools owned or directly supervised by the State Forests, as well as emissions from air conditioning. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions, which are not produced within the organization but arise from the production of electricity and heat purchased and consumed by the State Forests.
According to the calculations, the total carbon footprint of the State Forests in 2023 amounted to 65,440.2 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent in a market-based approach). The market-based approach means that the emission amount is calculated based on the emission factor published by a specific energy supplier. In a location-based approach (based on the average emission factor for Poland, which represents the actual amount of emissions produced in the country, published by the National Centre for Emissions Management and Balancing), the carbon footprint of the State Forests last year was 60,615.7 tons of CO2e.
“Understanding the magnitude and sources of these emissions is crucial for taking actions that will reduce them, thereby mitigating the negative impact on the climate,” says Witold Koss, Director General of the State Forests. “Although we are not required to report the greenhouse gases we generate, we should implement best practices, not only in forest management or nature conservation but also in other areas of our operations.”
What are the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the State Forests? In Scope 1 (direct emissions), transportation fuels are the main source; in Scope 2 (indirect emissions), it is electricity. Regarding the areas where emissions are generated, properties account for the largest share (over 71%). Vehicles, the second-largest source, account for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions. Tools and specialized machinery were responsible for about 1% of last year’s emissions, which is an insignificant amount in the current emission structure, but this source will continue to be monitored in the coming years.
The results of the first report on the carbon footprint of the State Forests indicate that to reduce emissions, the State Forests must first focus on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and replacing vehicles with low-emission alternatives.
The State Forests have already undertaken and consistently implemented numerous decarbonization initiatives over several years, including the following development projects: Improving the Energy Efficiency of Buildings in the State Forests and Forest of Energy. These include:
- Conducting energy audits of buildings to identify actions that can improve their energy efficiency, which can be implemented within the State Forests.
- Producing energy from renewable sources in their own installations, mainly photovoltaic. In this way, they produced 6,461 MWh in 2023.
- Utilizing electric vehicles.
- Purchasing green energy from external suppliers. In 2023, they purchased 3,557 MWh of green energy.
- Automating the collection of data and calculating the carbon footprint along with its management.
- Internal education – training for employees of the State Forests, promoting best practices, including energy-efficient management.
- Utilizing biomass for energy purposes (emissions from this activity are monitored and reported).
As the primary supplier of timber in Poland, the State Forests must consider that they do not operate in an economic or legislative vacuum. A significant portion of the recipients of this raw material is already, or will soon be, required to disclose the carbon footprint of their products during production. Without information on the carbon footprint from the raw material producer, they will not be able to do this fully. This requirement can already be compared to the need for FSC/PFSC-type certificates.
The State Forests are currently preparing to expand the inventory and calculation of the carbon footprint of their products throughout their entire life cycle, known as the “cradle-to-gate” scope. The calculation of greenhouse gas emissions is planned annually.
Collecting data for the inventory takes several months and is a significant challenge, considering that the State Forests comprise nearly 500 units with varying energy characteristics. For data aggregation, a custom tool developed by the Environmental Projects Coordination Center in cooperation with the General Directorate of the State Forests was used for the entire organization. The process was preceded by a series of training sessions for State Forests employees responsible for entering data into the application.
