Estimate your carbon footprint

Thecarbon footprint is an indicator designed to measure theimpact of an activity on the environment, and more specifically the greenhouse gas emissions associated with that activity. It can be applied to an individual (depending on lifestyle), a company (depending on activities) or a territory.

This impact is generally expressed in equivalent carbon dioxide or CO2 eq. Why is this? For the sake of simplicity and standardization, we use a single CO2 standard for all greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to determining how much CO2 would retain the same amount of solar radiation, and thus make an equivalent contribution to global warming.

The individual carbon footprint is the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of a person's overall consumption of goods and services. This link can be direct, for example the oil or gas used to heat a home, or indirect, for example via the purchase of an item whose production required energy derived from fossil fuels. Estimating our "role" in global warming in this way is important if we are to avoid underestimating certain aspects, and thus be able to aim for a reduction in our overall impact. For example, Belgium's carbon footprint is around 15 to 17 tonnes of CO2 eq. per person per year (Plateforme Wallonne pour le GIEC).

The main areas of a Belgian student's carbon footprint are :

• housing (construction, heating, electricity, etc.),
• mobility (cars: production and journeys, public transport, planes, etc.),
• food (types of food: animal proteins, vegetable proteins, ready-made meals, restaurants/canteens...),
• purchasing (clothes, objects...),
• digital (number and type of devices, streaming time...)

The notion of carbon footprint is sometimes confused with that of environmental footprint (also known as ecological footprint).

The carbon footprint accounts for around 60% of the ecological footprint, which covers a broader spectrum.

The ecological footprint is expressed in terms of the area of productive land required to produce the goods and services we consume and absorb the resulting waste. In Belgium, the average ecological footprint is 6.6 hectares per capita.

The media often talk about the amount of land needed to absorb our consumption patterns. Today, it is estimated that 3.7 Earths would be needed if everyone had the same lifestyle as the Belgians.

You can compare the lifestyles of our citizens (from one country to another, for example, via this map).

You can calculate your ecological footprint here :

  I calculate my environmental footprint

(Source : Emmanuel Watrinet - Empreinte carbone : définition, principes et méthodes de calcul)