ESET announced the publication of its 2023 Carbon Footprint Report, which underscores its dedication to transparency, accountability, and environmental sustainability. The report reflects the company’s ongoing efforts to mitigate its environmental impact and progress toward a net-zero future.
The report reveals that ESET Group’s total carbon footprint for 2023 is 8,146.34 tonnes CO2e using the location-based method and 7,835.06 tonnes CO2e using the market-based method—greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per employee amount to 3.38 tonnes CO2e. The majority of the total carbon footprint comes from indirect emissions within ESET Group’s value chain (Scope 3), representing 79% of all emissions.
Compared to 2022, ESET Group’s total GHG emissions increased by 25%, with GHG emissions per employee rising by 16%. The increase is attributed to the inclusion of additional offices previously excluded from data collection, increased business travel attributed to the significant and lasting changes in how businesses operate, driven by the adaptations made during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in the number of employees (by 7%), as well as a return to offices in most locations, and more accurate data collection overall year on year.
Despite these increases, ESET has made significant strides in reducing emissions from stationary combustion and fugitive emissions, thanks to implementing various measures to ensure efficient use of heating and cooling through timers, thermostats, and zoning in many offices. That has resulted in an 11% decrease in emissions from stationary combustion, which is due to the use of natural gas and CNG for heating, an 82% decrease in fugitive emissions for A/C unit leakages, and only a 1% increase in purchased heat emissions.
Palo Luka, ESET’s Global COO, said: “We remain committed to our Global Environmental Strategy and will continue to work tirelessly toward reducing our environmental impact. We plan to do this by increasing the use of renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency, and promoting sustainable practices across all our operations, individually through employees, business partners, and throughout our supply chain. Our ultimate goal is to leave the planet in a better state for future generations.”
According to Luka, the use of renewable energy helps create demand for more sustainable technologies, and the company’s hope is that, where possible, they can contribute toward influencing more options and higher-quality renewable energy sources. In 2023, 36% of electricity consumed in our offices around the world is from renewable sources, with emissions from purchased electricity category contributing the most to the company’s Scope 2 emissions (87%). Furthermore, although energy consumption in our external data centers has increased by 17% between 2022 and 2023, the emissions from external data centers are almost zero as ESET is using responsible providers and 100% renewable energy.
