Climate Neutrality

An important milestone reached by Grazie EcoNatural.

The actions taken by Grazie EcoNatural to contribute to mitigating climate change resulted in an ambitious objective already being achieved in 2021: Climate Neutrality certification.

All the toilet papers manufactured at the production plants in Diecimo (Italy) and Laval (France) do, in fact, bear the “Climate Neutral Product” certification.

What is Carbon Neutrality

Certain gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere act like the glass of a greenhouse, capturing the heat of the sun and preventing it from returning to space.

They are, in fact, known as greenhouse gases and are essential to guaranteeing life on Earth. However, if human activity causes their concentration to exceed the planet’s capacity to absorb them and remove them over time, they become the main cause of global warming.

In order to reduce the negative effects of human activity, starting from the Industrial Revolution, on the planet and on people, the United Nations (IPPC) set the target of limiting global warming to + 1.5°C with respect to pre-industrial levels.

This means achieving global Climate Neutrality by 2050, thus re-establishing the balance between greenhouse gas emissions and their absorption.

Being Climate Neutral means taking concrete actions to achieve the necessary conditions of balance to ensure that the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions released into the atmosphere are balanced in quantity, or removed, over a specific period of time.

Action 1

Misurazione del ciclo di vita del prodotto — We measure **the Product Carbon Footprint** of our products, meaning the CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions during their **entire life cycle**.

Action 2

Riduzione delle emissioni — We reduce the CO₂e emissions, by, for example, **optimising production processes, by switching to alternative renewable energies and by using sustainable raw materials**.

Action 3

We calculate and compensate for the **residual emissions that cannot be reduced, by supporting specific climate projects that have a major environmental and socio-economic impact**.

WHAT DOES COMPENSATING FOR THE CO₂e PRODUCED MEAN?

It means balancing the residual CO₂e emissions associated with an activity with a saving of CO₂e produced by specific projects with an impact on the climate capable of offering benefits to the climate itself, to nature and to the community.

Through an auditing and certification process, the saving of CO₂e obtained is converted into carbon offsets purchasable by the company, in order to compensate for the residual emissions and support global climate action

Lucart decided to support projects to guarantee the water access for the sustainable development in Uganda and Malawi, certified by:

Clean Development Mechanism

Dispensers in Uganda and Malawi

20.375 t CO₂e
emissions reduced annually

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of the population does not have access to a safe source of water.

Due to the disparity in access to water, people spend a large percentage of their savings and their time to procure water.

In addition, these populations rely very often on fossil fuels and non-renewable high biomasses to purify water.

This results in forest degradation and in the emission of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.

THE PROJECT

The aim of the project is to facilitate access of families and local communities to a clean and safe source of drinking water, by promoting water purification technologies with a low environmental impact. Access to clean and safe water is, in fact, essential not only to mitigating climate change, but also to guaranteeing sustainable development of the populations involved, with benefits in both socio-economic conditions and in health.
The project involves more than 537,000 people and 1,380 villages, with the installation of over 2,500 water dispensers in the areas in which the project is being performed.

AREA OF ACTION

The project is being developed in Uganda, in the districts of Budaka, Kibuku and Manafwa, and in Malawi, in the District of Mayaka & Thondwe, Zomba.

SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT CONTRIBUTES TO THE FOLLOWING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS OF THE UNITED NATIONS:

The project aims effectively to reduce the poverty rate caused by disparities in access to drinking water, by ensuring that families do not spend a large part of their savings and time in procuring it.

The project contributes to improvement of health and hygiene conditions, with a consequent reduction in both the spread of diseases linked to poor water quality and in infant mortality.

The project will help to reduce the costs for families by improving school attendance, increasing productivity and, more generally, giving a feeling of hope and actual opportunity.

The project aims to guarantee access to drinking water and sanitary facilities, which, together with water resources, is a decisive factor in all aspects of social, economic and environmental development.

The project contributes to mitigating climate change, thanks to the reduction in the fossil fuels and non-renewable biomasses used for boiling water to make it drinkable, by promoting water purification technologies with a low environmental impact.

Through use of purification technologies with a low environmental impact, the project aims to reduce forest degradation and deforestation, thus contributing to the protection and conservation of local biodiversity.