Understand to act!
Today, it's important to understand our individual impact on the climate and the planet.
Awareness of our impact on the climate and the environment then enables us to make free and informed choices in our daily lives.
Animations available
Various online calculators enable you to calculate your carbon, ecological or even digital footprint.
UNI for Change offers three 30-minute animations to help you perform these calculations in your organization.
For each event, you'll find
- an explanatory guide to animation
- a PowerPoint presentation
Discover them below!
Carbon Footprint support
The carbon footprint is an indicator designed to measure the impact of an activity on the environment, and more specifically the greenhouse gas emissions associated with that activity. It can be applied to an individual (depending on lifestyle), a company (depending on activities) or a territory.
This impact is generally expressed in equivalent carbon dioxide or CO2 eq. Why is this? For the sake of simplicity and standardization, we use a single CO2 standard for all greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to determining how much CO2 would retain the same amount of solar radiation, and thus make an equivalent contribution to global warming.
The individual carbon footprint is the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of a person's overall consumption of goods and services. This link can be direct, for example the oil or gas used to heat a home, or indirect, for example via the purchase of an item whose production required energy derived from fossil fuels. Estimating our "role" in global warming in this way is important if we are to avoid underestimating certain aspects, and thus be able to aim for a reduction in our overall impact. For example, Belgium's carbon footprint is in the region of 15 to 17 tonnes of CO2 eq. per person per year (Plateforme Wallonne pour le GIEC).
The main areas of carbon footprint are :
- housing (construction, heating, electricity, etc.),
- mobility (cars: production and journeys, public transport, planes, etc.),
- food (types of food: animal proteins, vegetable proteins, ready-made meals, restaurants/canteens...),
- purchasing (clothes, objects...),
- digital (number and type of devices, streaming time...)
Animation supports
Carbon Footprint - PowerPoint support
Carbon footprint - Explanatory guide
Ecological footprint support
The notion of carbon footprint is sometimes confused with that of ecological footprint (also known as environmental footprint).
The carbon footprint accounts for around 50% of the ecological footprint, which covers a broader spectrum.
The ecological footprint is expressed in terms of the area of productive land required to produce the goods and services we consume and absorb the resulting waste.
The media often talk about the amount of land needed to absorb our consumption patterns. Today, it is estimated that 3.7 Earths would be needed if everyone had the same lifestyle as the Belgians.
We can thus compare the lifestyles of our citizens (from one country to another, for example, via this map).
Animation supports
Ecological footprint - PowerPoint support
Ecological footprint - Explanatory guide
Digital footprint support
The digital footprint is in fact one of the areas calculated in the individual carbon footprint. The animation here therefore focuses on this area in order to study the impact of our everyday digital activities: surfing the internet, watching streaming movies and series, sending e-mails, video-conferencing calls, go to social networks, and so on.
Animation supports
Digital footprint - PowerPoint support
Digital footprint - Explanatory guide
updated on 10/6/23
