Carbon footprint of public agencies: The case of Brazilian prosecution service

Abstract

Abstract While recognizing the Carbon Footprint (CF) is relevant for fighting the climate change, it is uncommon to estimate in public agencies the well-known “other indirect emissions”, of Scope 3. This work is a pioneer in estimating CF of the Prosecution Service of the State of Bahia (MPBA), a Brazilian public agency, considering a wide range of Scope 3 emission sources, aiming at identifying the main GHG sources and emissions, assessing Scope 3 participation and providing an analytical basis for the elaboration of a low-carbon policies in public agencies. Thus, for the first time in a Brazilian public agency BookFeel was used as a calculation tool based on the Compound Method Based on Financial Accounts (MC3) approach, which considered the financial expenses of the agency to estimate part of Scope 3 emissions. The total CF 2017 was 5,257.92 tCO2e, 83% of which belong to Scope 3, with “purchase of products/services” as the largest issuer. This case study showed that Scope 3 calculation in public agencies is indispensable, with BookFeel and MC3 being able to calculate the CF in a practical way. It also provided some strategies to mitigate the carbon emissions in public agencies, which should prioritize green public procurement and eco-innovation of its supply chain, eco-efficiency in consumption of materials and services, biofuels, high energy efficiency in public buildings and new management strategies such as the home office. Thus, this study fills part of the gap that exists in view of the scarce number of peer-reviewed studies regarding the recognition of CF in public agencies in Brazil and worldwide.