Measurement and compensation of Certior Capital’s 2023 carbon emissions

As part of our increasing focus on sustainability and good corporate governance, Certior Capital has recently conducted its first carbon emissions calculation for its business operations during 2023. Operational carbon emissions for the period were estimated to be just under 47 tCO2e. As is typical for small asset management companies with <10 employees, Certior’s carbon emissions from its own operations are relatively low. While our investment activities do not focus on high-emission industries, our underlying investment portfolios are expected to account for the majority of Certior’s total carbon emissions. As a next step, carbon accounting for our investment portfolios will now be implemented for future publication.

The operational carbon accounting was carried out mainly using cost-based estimation. For electricity and office cooling/heating, direct consumption data from the landlord allocated to our own office space was used. The precise emission factors for electricity, office cooling/heating were collected from the utility companies. Employee flight emissions were calculated using the UNGCCC GHG emissions calculator based on flights taken during the year. Employee commuting was estimated based on the number of office days, the modes of transportation used and emission data provided by domestic operators (HSL, VR, Motiva). For other consumption, we used monetary expenses along with factors from Climatiq.

Overall, our operational emissions were modest at 47 tCO2e. These relatively low levels of emissions were achieved through the use of zero-emission electricity and cooling at our offices. The largest emissions, as expected, came from business-related travel and the use of IT-based accounting and reporting services which together accounted for about two-thirds of our operational carbon emissions.

Certior Capital’s 2023 carbon emissions are now fully compensated

After reviewing a number of alternative solutions, the CO2 emissions from our own operations have now been offset by planting new forests as carbon sinks. The offsetting was carried out with a slight overcompensation through an external service provider, Ilmastoapu Oy. The company started operations in 2015 and focuses on helping Finnish SMEs mitigate their carbon footprint. It will plant new forests in Finland on decommissioned peatlands, creating genuinely new carbon sinks.