Endesa is the first spanish energy company certified by the spanish climate change office for offseting its carbon footprint

• After receiving ‘Calculation’ and ‘Reduction’ seals in previous years Endesa has now been awarded the ‘Offset’ seal by the Spanish Office for Climate Change (OECC).

• This award has been granted as a result of the ‘Bosque Endesa’ reforestation initiative that made it possible to offset emissions associated with power generator consumption at hydroelectric plants, which operate exclusively as back-up at specific times.

Endesa is the first Spanish energy company to achieve the triple ‘Calculation+Reduction+Offset’ seal for registering its carbon footprint.

The seals, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition Climate Change Office, mark out organisations that calculate their greenhouse gas emissions and also have a plan in place for emission reduction and offset.

After obtaining the ‘Calculation’ and ‘Reduction’ seals in previous years, Endesa was also awarded the ‘Offset’ seal for its carbon footprint in 2017. It was granted this recognition for its commitment and effort in calculating its carbon footprint and then going one step further and offsetting it by means of the ‘Bosque Endesa’ initiative, which aims to achieve reforestation of degraded or burnt areas by planting them with native and resilient species.

Endesa has been registering its carbon footprint since 2013 and has demonstrated its emission reduction pathway in accordance with criteria laid down by the Spanish Climate Change Office. Since registering its 2016 footprint, Endesa's ‘Calculation’ and ‘Reduction’ seals have been active. When the company registered its 2017 carbon footprint, it was awarded an ‘Offset’ seal because the ‘Bosque Endesa’ initiative allows it to offset emissions associated with diesel consumption by the company's hydroelectric power plant generators.

Endesa is the first Spanish energy sector company to obtain these three carbon footprint registration seals. Fourteen Spanish companies currently boast the triple seal, but none of these are in the energy sector.

What is the carbon footprint registry?

The Ministerial Carbon Footprint Registry is an official registry run by the Ministry of Ecological Transition through the Spanish Climate Change Office (OECC), which companies can enrol in voluntarily. It consists of three sections: carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emission reduction commitment section; CO2 sequestration project section and carbon footprint offset section.

This register allows companies to obtain a seal reflecting the effort they are making to combat climate change. The seal reflects three stages in the carbon footprint reduction strategy: Calculation, Reduction and Offset, i.e. distinguishing between organisations that calculate their carbon footprint; those that also reduce their emissions and those that go one step further and offset part or all of their emissions.

The aim of this registry is to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase sequestration by carbon sinks in Spain and thus facilitate compliance with Spain’s international climate change commitments.