The whole of society needs to be involved in achieving ambitious national sustainability and climate goals, and it is vital that the public sector is bold and acts as a role model in leading the green transition. The Estonian government is stepping up to the challenge with its aim to improve state-level environmental governance, but the first step is to understand and document the nature and scope of the required change.

While state institutions and the public sector had realized the need to assess their environmental and carbon footprints, there was no unified methodology and database with which to do it.

In response, SEI helped develop a methodological approach, for the Estonian Government, as well as guidelines and tools, including an emissions factor database that enables organizations to assess their environmental and carbon footprint. As a result, Estonian public and private sector organizations can assess their footprint on a uniform basis for the first time.

Measurable progress

The assessment method last year enabled the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Interior to get a better overview of their electricity, heating, water and fuel consumption and waste, as well as to track the impact of measures to reduce footprints. Furthermore, SEI has encouraged the ministries to integrate environmental goals into their internal strategies and planning processes, including action plans for reducing their footprint or developing climate plans.

The newest assessments demonstrate that with the support of SEI, the ministries have already reduced their impact significantly. Results from last year’s assessment showed that the carbon footprint of the Ministry of Defense was 26% lower in 2021 than in 2019. Waste generation per person decreased by 10%, and the share of separate collection increased from 38% to 47%. Water consumption per person also decreased by 18%.

Kadri Auväärt, Head of Environmental Policy and Spatial Planning at the Ministry of Defence, said, “Calculating the footprint helps us to see progress in moving towards goals and to maintain motivation through it – to see more clearly what is causing the greater burden behind the footprint and, based on this, to set the focus for finding solutions.”

Auväärt also understands the need to develop and further refine the work. “The existence of the model and aggregate numbers are a good start, but in order to find ways to reduce the actual footprint expressed in numbers, we need to improve measurement and data collection and go into more detail to find where the reduction potential and economic impact are optimally balanced,” she explained.

Trust, reliability and co-creation

The research involved developing a carbon footprint calculation methodology and an emissions factor database (i.e the rate at which given activities release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere), which is the first of its kind for Estonia.

These tasks did present challenges, including making compromises to reach consensus on the method and use of data. To overcome this, the team co- created the database with stakeholders at roundtables and meetings, where data and input were gathered from representatives from companies, research, and public sector actors and institutions. This approach demonstrated the value of trust, reliability and transparency to successful partnerships in state-level decision-making.

The novelty of the work stands out at both the regional and European levels because few countries have developed a country-specific emissions factor database. Because of the unified approach, the database is also valuable because it can help avoid greenwashing in reporting, which is a risk when there are many different methodologies or sources of data.

Looking ahead

The same methodology can be used for assessing the impacts of other state- level public authorities, and this work has already begun. In 2022, the Estonian Ministry of Culture presented a study which uses the assessment methodology to provide an overview of its footprint and to discover opportunities to reduce it. And other European countries, especially in Eastern Europe, have approached SEI Tallinn to consult on similar projects and share experience and expertise.

The ambition of the Estonian Government is that all ministries should start the work to assess their footprints to offer a picture of the footprint of the entire public sector.

The package of work and the emissions factor database can be used by both the public and private sectors. The work also contributes to the implementation of the EU environmental policy.

It is a tool that companies and organizations can use to implement upcoming directives such as the corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD), which ensures that companies do more comprehensive sustainability reporting, and to make that information more accessible.

Strategy for action: Government plans for low-carbon pathways with multiple benefits

SEI’s work with the Estonian Government is enabling ministries to make coherent, unified assessments of their environmental and carbon footprints, and is set to expand to cover the whole public sector. By helping public institutions prioritize better and more in-depth environmental management practices they can become a role model for many other actors and support societal change towards sustainability.