TCX, together with climate consultancy South Pole, has measured and compensated its greenhouse gas emissions for 2020.
The total greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of TCX’s operations and liquidity portfolio for the calendar year 2020 was 408 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (‘tCO2e’). The main source of GHG emissions was TCX’s liquidity portfolio, which amounted to approximately 285 tCO2e during 2020. Given the size of the portfolio this presents an extremely low value, with a carbon intensity of only 0.1413 tCO2e/USD million invested. TCX’s full GHG Accounting Report for 2020 can be found here.
As expected, business travel emissions experienced a sharp decline of about 66% from 270 tCO2e in 2019 to only 92 tCO2e last year. This is primarily due to the sudden halt of international business travel caused by the Covid pandemic. The challenge – not only for TCX but all internationally active companies – will be to maintain a lower travel intensity by continuing to rely on technical solutions including video calls to substitute non-essential in-person meetings. Another effective measure increasingly adopted by TCX staff is to substitute short haul flights with trains.
To compensate its emissions, TCX supports the Cookstove Project for Maasai Communities in Kenya by acquiring 408 Gold Standard Voluntary Emissions Reduction (GSVER) certificates. By using the cookstoves, the Maasai people reduce the amount of smoke produced by indoor cooking, limiting their exposure to dangerous pollutants that cause respiratory diseases. Women and children also spend less time collecting firewood and instead focus on earning an income or attending school, respectively. Meanwhile, demand for firewood is alleviated from the Mau Forest the largest native montane forest in East Africa. The decision to compensate TCX’s emissions by supporting the cookstove in Kenya is in line with the Fund’s focus area and further reflects its commitment to increase its impact in Sub-Saharan Africa.