A carbon footprint is “the total set of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person” (Carbon Trust 2008).

The environmental impact of our emissions is measured by an inventory:

• In the case of an organization or company, corresponds to CO₂ emissions of its daily operations;
• In the case of an individual or a house, CO₂ emissions are related to daily activities;
• For a product or service, including additional CO₂ emissions to the life cycle of the production chain;
• For materials corresponds to CO₂ emissions built into the product (Embodied Emissions) determined through life cycle assessment.

The daily consumption of energy, travel, goods, … each of our daily actions is associated with a number of emissions of greenhouse gases that together form our carbon footprint that has a direct impact on the environment and climate change.

Knowing our carbon footprint will help us find solutions that reduce and offset our emissions, a major challenge that we all assume.