total GHG emitted 391.4 tons
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
40.000.000.000 Tons
This number is the annual total tons of CO2 emissions from the earth to the atmosphere. 1
22.000.000.000 Tons
This is the number of tons CO2 sequestered by the earth natural by sea and forest.
18.000.000.000 Tons
This the number of tons CO2 build up in the atmosphere every year.
100 USD
This number is a good estimate of the cost of capturing 1 ton of CO2.
1.800.000.000.000 USD
This is the amount required to capture all the pro anno buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere.
43.000usd
While important and enlightening, calculating GHG (Green House Gas) emissions takes times. Having a 3rd party company do it for you is still to this day a heavy investment. For this reason, we have composed the above table breaking down how much companies would have to invest in carbon capturing to eliminate further GHG build up in the atmosphere (around 18 Gigatons as per 2023, requiring a $1.8 trillion investment) or to capture all emitted GHG (around 40 Gigatons as per 2023, requiring a $4 trillion investment). The numbers are made by dividing the investment between all companies in the world (approximately 359 million entities) which are divided into 1000 groups which makes it possible to pull out a nominal amount for each of the revenue groups to which the company in questions belongs to. This is important since there is a huge gap between the income of different companies – especially at the extreme top, where relatively few companies comprise accounts for a majority of the economic product. The total investments proposed, $1.8 trillion and $4 trillion is based on a 1 ton carbon capturing equivalent of $100usd. It can be debated whether this is the correct equivalent as it’s dependent on the quality of the carbon capture. Furthermore, it is the expectation that the financial input to carbon capture ratio will go down over time. This donation/revenue model “solves” the issues around how much of a company’s emissions they should be responsible for, since it’s based on financial outcome rather than GHG output and the related questions around responsibility for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and the “risk” of double accounting emissions between companies.
Prolog Coffee’s 2023 revenue puts us in the 54th percentile of all global companies. Based on the donation/revenue model Prolog should therefor contribute $46.034 to compensate for the emissions our company should produce based on our revenue. To avoid further build up in the atmosphere, a $20.717 donation would be required to sufficiently capture the built up CO2. As the model also shows, most of the wealth lies in the top 10% of all companies, which therefor also bear the biggest responsibility for GHG mitigation initiatives. Conveniently, these companies are typically also the entities with most capital to power the carbon decarbonization. Consequently, it might be worth considering the level to which companies of different sizes are expected to contribute to GHG mitigation. Small or new companies might not yet have the sufficient capital to invest in 3rd party GHG emissions calculations, while this investment is much more digestible for large companies, given that the cost of the calculation shouldn’t go up linearly with the revenue growth of the company.
If you per year earn this amount or more this places you in the top 10-15% percent wealthiest people on the planet - around the top 1.000.000.000 top earners.
1.800usd
This is the number it yearly would require from each of the globally top 10-15% earners to capture all pro anno CO2 build up in the atmosphere. 150usd/month. 5usd/day. Please note that this number would be even lower for the average top 10-15% if adjusted for the still significant income difference between top 1% earners and top 2-15%.
0.78%
If instead, the donation is given by the company you work for (or own), this is the yearly contribution of annual income that company would donate to carbon capturing to avoid further buildup in the atmosphere.
1.74%
This is the annual contribution the company would have to make to not only avoid CO2 buildup but further remove the remaining 22 tons of CO2 emissions emitted pro anno.
carbon extensive, while also inherently necessary and important – farming versus a consultancy company being one example. The donation/revenue model could in this instance be used as a potentially more fair redistribution tool.
Finally, this being our sustainability report, not only on environmental impact but also on social impact it’s also a sincere question how much capital should be transferred to environmental rather than social impact. As we contemplated in our previous sustainability report we believe this is a non-zero-sum game synthesized by giving equal importance to financial, social and environmental growth. The one not acting as a compensation for the others.
2023 GHG RESULTS
In our 2023 GHG calculations, Prolog emitted (Scope 1, 2 and 3) 391.4 tons GHG, equivalent to 22 Tons pr. million DKK Revenue or 149 Tons/million USD.
WHAT THESE NUMBERS TELL US IS THAT IT IS QUITE TANGIBLE AND POSSIBLE TO NOT ONLY REACH THE UNDP’S DEVELOPMENT GOAL OF A 2050 NET ZERO (INCLUDING CARBON CAPTURING) BUT ALSO TO START REMOVING CO2 FROM THE ATMOSPHERE. IT IS A MATTER OF PRIORITIZING RESOURCES.
If a small company is still interested in donation for carbon mitigation a table like the one above could be an easy solution to start investing in decarbonization while circumventing the consultancy hours.
What can we use this model for?
For one, these numbers give us a clear-cut answer as to how much we should invest/company to solve the climate crises and especially valuable for companies not having the capital to invest in a complete GHG emissions calculation. For two, it gives us a valuable benchmark tool for us when we gather and calculate our yearly emissions. Are we too far below the benchmark we might be doing something very well or we might be insufficiently thorough in collecting our data. Are we too far above the benchmark we might have a lot of space for improvements, or we might be too excessive in our data collection or be using outdated or wrong CO2 equivalents. Thirdly, there’s a valid question about the fairness of whether companies in certain carbon extensive industries should be carrying a greatly elevated responsibility for their emissions when their industry happens to be
To fully compensate these emissions, it would require a $39.140 investment (based on a $100/GHG equivalent) if we were to cover all Scopes.
Based on our donation/revenue, Prolog Coffee’s 2023 fiscal result would entail a $46.034 investment. The proximity between the two numbers could indicate that the donation/revenue model can work as a good proxy for a rigorous data overhaul. If that’s the case Prolog is 17% below the benchmark, which could indicate active initiatives to mitigate GHG emissions, which mirrors well the actions we have taken as discussed in our previous sustainability reports, further espousing the quality of the donation/revenue model, though not by any means validating it as a certification tool. Rather it’s another model for comparison in the catalogue of environmental sustainability data networks.
SOCIAL GOALS 2025
Our 2025 social goals are very closely mirroring our 2024 social goals. While we have made improvements in the areas presented in last year’s report, we still believe there’s room for further undertakings in all these areas.
IMPROVE CURRENT PENSION PLAN: for full-time employees to a company/staff, 8%/4% pension payment from the current 3%/1.5%. While a full transition from 3%/1.5% to 8%/4% is difficult to implement in one year we pledge to change it to at least 4%/1.5% in 2025
TOP OF MARKET SALARY: assess whether our salaries are top of market, and if not, make a plan to take concrete steps towards top of market salaries
DATA OF EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: continue data gathering on employee satisfaction and improve data analysis
ONBOARDING PROGRAM: improve the program for new employees
FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT: create a more comprehensive framework for monitoring and improving social and environmental developments in the coffee farms we collaborate with. This includes data gathering on production, cost of production, effects on eco-resilience, coffee quality and happiness
KLIMATE
I first time met Katja Grothe-Eberhardt at a B-Corp CEO dinner a dark winter day in 2023. It quickly became clear that Katja and I shared two big passions: positive environmental impact and coffee - both which have been the heated discussion themes for our following catch ups: how to make improvements in quality of life. Turns out that the two objectives, carbon mitigation and good coffee find their intersection quite easily.
Read the entire interview with Katja PROLOGCOFFEE.COM
By Jonas Gehl, co-founder & CEO