We live in a time when climate change is at the heart of the world's challenges. One concept that comes up more and more often is “climate neutrality”, or financial climate contributions. Essentially, financial climate contributions describe a state in which the CO2 emissions caused by a company, organisation or individual are fully offset.
Since 2020, DillySocks has been a company that financially offsets its CO2 emissions. This means we have recorded our greenhouse gas emissions, are continuously working to reduce them and offset unavoidable emissions by investing in climate protection projects. You'll find more information in this article.
Psst… if you'd like more insight into our sustainability strategy beyond our financial climate contributions, take a look here.
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Financial climate contribution = CO2 offsetting?
As a rule, the financial climate contribution approach is a combination of continuous CO2 reduction and CO2 offsetting. This means that the total CO2 emissions caused by a company are fully offset.
For DillySocks, this means the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by our company and our products is calculated every year and compensated through appropriate measures, so that our carbon footprint is ultimately ‘neutral’. In addition to offsetting, our main goal is to continuously reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
To make our contribution, two footprints have to be calculated: the Product Carbon Footprint and the Corporate Carbon Footprint.
Our Product Carbon Footprint
To calculate our emissions, we track the PCF, our Product Carbon Footprint. In 2023, our PCF was 328 t CO2. It includes all (indirect) emissions in a year that arise from manufacturing and transporting our products. This covers raw material extraction, yarn production for our socks, dyeing the fabrics, sewing the products and transport to our warehouse.
Our Corporate Carbon Footprint
In addition to the PCF, we also take into account the CCF, our Corporate Carbon Footprint. In 2023, our CCF was 31 t CO2. It includes all emissions generated in a year at our office in Zurich: heating, electricity and water consumption, but also our employees' commutes to the office, external appointments and the purchase of new equipment.
How we offset our emissions
To do our part for climate protection and offset our CO2 emissions, we have teamed up with ClimatePartner. ClimatePartner is a renowned expert in CO2 reduction and offsetting and helps companies achieve their climate targets. Since 2020, we have been calculating our carbon footprint together and identifying where in our operations we can reduce our emissions further. ClimatePartner also helps us offset remaining CO2 emissions by investing in certified climate protection projects.
Our climate protection projects
We're proud to support various climate protection projects that have a proven positive impact on the environment. In the past, we have supported a social impact project in India and a clean drinking water project in Sierra Leone.
One of the key projects we currently support is the expansion of renewable energy in Chile and several African countries. By investing in clean energy sources such as wind and solar, we help drive the switch from fossil fuels to climate-friendly alternatives. This helps reduce CO2 emissions and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable energy supply.
Take a closer look at our offsetting projects
FAQs on financial climate contributions
For companies, a financial climate contribution means recording all their greenhouse gas emissions and taking measures to reduce and offset them. By using energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy and sustainable practices, they aim to improve their carbon footprint. To compensate for the remaining unavoidable emissions, climate-neutral companies invest in climate protection projects, such as reforestation initiatives or renewable energy projects, to do their part for climate protection.
In short: no. It's important to understand that climate neutrality is not the same as being emission-free. While climate-neutral means that the overall balance of CO2 emissions is offset, emission-free implies that no CO2 emissions are produced at all. That is not the case for us.
Although we work hard to reduce our CO2 emissions, certain activities or processes cause unavoidable emissions. Among other things, we cannot prevent the emissions generated by raw material extraction, production or the transport of our products. That's why we offset these emissions by investing in climate protection projects.
Anyone who has looked closely at the topic of climate neutrality has probably heard one or two criticisms of the concept. Of course, we don't want to ignore critical voices, so we'd like to set them out in this article
Challenge 1: climate neutrality = greenwashing: One accusation is that some companies use climate neutrality as a marketing tool without making sufficient efforts to actually reduce emissions. This "greenwashing" can undermine consumer trust in climate-neutral claims if they are not credibly backed up.
We firmly believe that the core idea of climate neutrality – measuring, continuously reducing and offsetting unavoidable emissions – is a fundamental responsibility for every company. We take on this responsibility together with ClimatePartner.
Challenge 2: shifting responsibility: climate neutrality can tempt some companies to rely on offsetting instead of actively reducing their own emissions. This can leave companies less motivated to implement more sustainable business practices.
We clearly counter this with our sustainability goals. Careful use of resources is part of our DillyDNA. To reduce our CO2 emissions, we have already reached the following milestones, among others:
- 100% of our socks are made with organic cotton instead of conventional cotton
- 100% green electricity in our office
- 100% green electricity in our Swiss warehouse
- No plastic in our packaging
The word mitigation comes up time and again in connection with climate neutrality. What does it stand for? As a first step, it can be traced back to its Latin origin: "mitigatio" means alleviation or easing.
The principle of climate neutrality includes 1) reducing emissions and 2) offsetting unavoidable emissions. Mitigation therefore targets the reduction of emissions, i.e. point 1. Actions and measures that lower emissions from the outset reduce the CO2 effect right from the start, so fewer emissions need to be offset.
