Guardia Civil registers carbon footprint

THE Guardia Civil has become the first national police force, and one of the only ones in the world, to register the calculation of its carbon footprint. This is an initiative that aims to determine the extent of its CO2 emissions and to reduce and compensate for negative environmental effects caused by its activity.

The Spanish Climate Change Office (OECC) is the body in charge of recording the calculation of the amount of greenhouse gasses that administrations, organisations and companies generate in their daily activities. This register, of a voluntary nature, reflects the efforts made in the calculation, reduction and offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions generated.

The aim of this will address the reduction and compensation of their carbon footprint.

The process of calculating the carbon footprint is very complex for an organisation such as the Guardia Civil, both because of its extensive deployment throughout Spain, and because it has a large number of personnel, barracks and land, air and sea machinery. For this reason, the Guardia Civil has had the support and supervision of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge during the long process of calculation.

In order to take the next step and achieve the reduction target, the Guardia Civil will provide data from the last four years to the OECC. This will make it possible to measure the carbon footprint from 2019 onwards, and then analyse the evolution of the carbon footprint over this period.

The project is one of the main commitments that the Guardia Civil has defined in its Sustainability Plan for the years 2021-2025.

Climate change affects the environment, ecosystems and society. Changes in the climate system include global warming, extreme weather and rising sea levels. Wildfires have already been active in Spain this year. The effects of climate change are wide, especially if significant action is not taken.