GHG emissions and removals of a federal institute campus from Brazil

There is a growing demand for institutions and organizations to adopt actions aimed at combating climate change and its impacts. The objective of this study was to carry out inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon removal by afforestation of the Nova Venécia Campus of the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES-NV), Brazil. Emissions from scopes 1 (stationary combustion, mobile combustion, fugitive emissions, and wastewater), 2 (electricity), and 3 (commuting to campus, work travel, and solid waste) were accounted for in 2019 based on the methodology proposed by the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program. The GHG emissions were then compared to the annual rate of carbon removal by trees growing on the campus to determine net emissions. In total, 1,148.878 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) were quantified. Commuting to campus was responsible for more than 93% of total emissions, demonstrating that it is necessary to neutralize and/or drastically reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels in places with a high number of visitors. Although the campus afforestation only neutralized the equivalent of 1.7% of total emissions in 2019, it was able to neutralize approximately 50% of emissions from scopes 1 and 2, which are the emissions most directly managed by the institution. For future studies, it is recommended to also quantify carbon removal by tree roots and soil, as these may represent an important carbon sink.