Delano: Could you start by introducing us to your company?

Alexandre Magnette: CO2 Strategy Luxembourg was born in 2020 under the impetus of CO2 Strategy Belgium, which has been around for over 10 years.

Frederic Mathot founded CO2 Strategy in Belgium in 2012. Having experience in business management and carbon accounting, he developed a method of analysis and support for companies in order to take concrete action on the environmental issues that concern us.

Our goal is to become the privileged partner of Luxembourg companies that wish to act concretely for the good of the planet and apply our method, which has been proven for many years.

Could you share with us some problematic practices that you often see in companies?

We commonly encounter companies that have begun taking action on their environmental impacts, but who are completely unaware of the scope of their actions. Companies rarely have any knowledge of their overall carbon footprint.

And without knowing that, how can they really reduce their impact?

Have you found anything surprising in your work?

When we calculate a company’s carbon footprint, the company has to delve into its own internal processes to give us the data we need. It is often surprising that the figures from their processes are not readily available.

What kinds of recommendations or changes do you often make for your clients?

It’s difficult to draw up a list. There are some classic actions for improvement, but the most important thing, if you want to bring about sustainable change in companies, is to involve the employees.

Thanks to figures obtained via our carbon assessment, we can direct internal efforts towards the most important high-emissions areas. For the actions to correspond to the company’s business and above all to have a significant impact, it is essential that the ideas come directly from the company’s stakeholders. Our role isn’t to provide solutions, but to support companies in their thinking.

You recently joined IMS Luxembourg. How come?

We have indeed joined IMS. It’s an important player in Luxembourg with companies in the field of sustainability. Their values correspond perfectly with the efforts we are making on our side to get companies moving.

Are governments doing enough to oblige companies to reduce their CO2 emissions?

No, not at all! Companies of a certain size are only obliged to carry out a simple energy audit, but this is not enough.

In our opinion, a framework should be created to:

—help companies to become aware of their carbon footprint in the widest possible scope

—support them in taking the most appropriate reduction measures in relation to their own carbon footprint

—support them in the implementation of an action plan in relation to real measures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 

Are you optimistic about our fight against the climate crisis?

We remain optimistic, of course, but there is an urgent need for companies to realise that they have everything to gain from tackling the climate issue head on. Pressure from governments and customers is growing. It’s unimaginable in the short term that a company wouldn’t integrate climate issues into its development.

Companies must also understand that the only way to take concrete action is to know their global impact and to involve their staff in a positive reduction project. Without knowing their global impact, companies take measures that may not have much effect. And communicating about these low-impact measures brings a kind of unintentional greenwashing that can only serve to undermine the objective.

We are still optimistic, but it is seriously time to act. The latest IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report is not going in the right direction, COP26 was not very exciting and yet there are many measures still to be taken if we are to remain below [a rise of] 1.5°.