The Challenge
CCV is a European provider offering end-to-end payments at every touchpoint of the customer journey. From convenient online payments to powerful in-store and unattended solutions. Together with their SME and enterprise clients, CCV has been pioneering the digital payment industry for over 65 years.
CCV is committed to a sustainability strategy on environment, social, and governance, all gathered under the ‘WeCare’ umbrella. Within the pillars of this strategy, they aim to establish a climate action plan with a focus on reducing CO₂ emissions and other greenhouse gasses.
The Approach
CCV approached Hedgehog Company for support in their CO₂ reduction strategy. As our Mantra says, “you can't manage what you don't measure”.
So, we first calculated the total CO₂-footprint according to the GHG protocol. This involved mapping out all emissions that arise from providing the payment solutions. These are scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; both direct and indirect emissions.
In the case of CCV, this includes emissions from all offices and commuting of staff, the impact of facilitating payment transactions, as well as the impact of the production of payment terminals that CCV purchases to facilitate their service.
We distinguish ourselves in the approach of using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to determine the impact of the payment terminals and adding this to the organisation's CO₂ footprint. Many other sustainability consulting firms would approach this question differently, typically through a spend-based analysis. However, a spend-based footprint does not provide the right insights for CO₂ reduction, as it would suggest that the solution lies in purchasing cheaper payment terminals.
Read more about the distinction between activity-based and spend-based here.
The Results
CCV has gained detailed insights into the climate impact of all emission sources within their chain. Importantly, the impact of the payment terminals has been assessed based on activity-based assessments. This high level of detail allows CCV to work with their suppliers to reduce the environmental impact, through feedback on the design and material usage of the terminals.
The impact of payment terminals is the largest emission source within CCV's value chain. In the coming year, Hedgehog Company will further guide CCV in refining these insights for different payment terminals and translating these insights into a CO2 reduction strategy.
CCV will start using the Hedgehog Carbon Calculator, allowing them to monitor their climate strategy with their own, supply-chain-specific emission database.
