- The scope of the performed audit was defined as the “Process for detemining consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions (Climate Footprints) based on categorized payment transactions”
- Characteristics of the process and thus method range from applying state-of-the-art consumption-based greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting to final mapping for each customer to increase accuracy
- Banks and other financial service providers who want to offer a Climate Footprint feature in digital banking can now rely on a certified index solution
The certification department for quality management of TÜV Rheinland Cert GmbH has conducted an audit on eco.income’s "Process for determining consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions (Climate Footprints) based on categorized payment transactions". The aim was to determine whether the requirements set out in the standard “TÜV Rheinland tested process” are met. eco.income has provided evidence that all requirements are met.
"Providing science-driven data and API solutions to financial service providers around the Climate Footprint topic to trigger behavioral change on a bigger scale is an important approach and as such it is treated at eco.income. Overall, the complex process to determine Climate Footprints is logical, structured and the entire documentation is very solid."
says Guido Plettner, Auditor at TÜV Rheinland
The major characteristics of the audited process and thus eco.income’s method are the following:
- All greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are included, not just CO2.
- A consumption-based perspective is applied which enables to allocate GHG emissions of production across borders there where products and services are finally demanded. For this leading databases such as Exiobase are used that contain all global financial flows and GHG emissions by country and product group. The applied method “Environmentally-extended multi-regional Input-Output analysis” finally enables to allocate the emissions and financial flows to final demand consumption categories and thus determine its GHG intensities (kg CO2e/currency unit).
- Direct GHG emissions, e.g. from burning gasoline in cars or natural gas at home, are added separately as they are not included in Input-Output databases. For this a bottom-up life cycle assessment approach is used.
- The GHG intensities are available for 40+ countries.
- The consumption categories used are based on COICOP (Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose) which is the international reference classification of household expenditure developed by the UN.
- A non-linear weighted chain of extrapolations enables to provide up-to-date data annually.
- Effective modifiers are used to differentiate from average GHG intensities where necessary, ensuring precise estimation without going on product level.
- Benchmarkings on micro and macro level are performed to ensure and measure quality.
- A final mapping of COICOP categories and modifiers to each customers category tree and requirements is performed which increases accuracy.
"There are several methods out there on the market for transaction-based Climate Footprint computing, so it is important to understand which ones are solid and reliable. In that context we are proud that our leading science-driven method is now certified by an independent organization such as TÜV Rheinland. We look forward to further advance our index and deliver the right data solutions for banks and financial service providers across the world to help them offer an important Climate Footprint feature on top of PFM systems in digital banking"
says Dr. Michael Becker, Co-founder and CPO of eco.income
About eco.income engineering
With its Climate Action Platform eco.income provides science-driven data and API solutions to retail banks and other organizations operating with payment transactions to enable them to offer Climate Footprint analytics based on categorized payment transactions. The eco.income Climate Footprint Index covers 40+ countries. As the company envisions to enable 1.5°C compatible lifestyles and consumption patterns, it furthermore provides curated and actionable content, especially on how best to reduce its personal Climate Footprint.
About TÜV Rheinland
TÜV Rheinland stands for safety and quality in virtually all areas of business and life. Founded almost 150 years ago, the company is one of the world’s leading testing service providers with more than 20,600 employees and annual revenues of around 2 billion euros. TÜV Rheinland’s highly qualified experts test technical systems and products around the world, support innovations in technology and business, train people in numerous professions and certify management systems according to international standards. In doing so, the independent experts generate trust in products as well as processes across global value-adding chains and the flow of commodities. Since 2006, TÜV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption.
https://www.tuv.com/germany/de/
For more information
Jurij Peters
Co-founder and CEO
Mobile: +49 179 6812299
Email: jurij@ecoincome.world
eco.income engineering GmbH
Billwerder Neuer Deich 12
20539 Hamburg
Germany
https://www.ecoincome.world
