ION celebrates its 5th carbon-neutral year

Numerous companies are currently making an effort for the climate, but at ION we always go the extra mile – that counts for the climate too. We were the first certified carbon-neutral project developer in Belgium as early as 2015. It means that we now celebrate our fifth climate neutral birthday. How do we manage that? We reach our goals thanks to the whole team's efforts and CO₂logic’s help.

ION is 100% committed to sustainability. Our building in the climate neutral Waregem Business Park is an example of that. With geothermal energy, green roofs and smart water management we minimise our daily carbon emissions. We do not limit these efforts to our own office. We make sure every ION project is as sustainable as possible, both during construction and for the end user.

However climate friendly our working method may be, we are still emitting CO₂. Every year, our partner CO₂logic quantifies the carbon emissions we still produce. Everything is calculated: from electricity to heating and commuting. This way, we know perfectly how many kilograms of CO₂ we need to offset in order to be completely climate neutral.

We offset our carbon emissions by supporting a certified project in Africa. To this end, CO₂logic works together with local NGOs that organise climate projects with the local population. Deforestation, one of the main causes of climate change, is central to all our initiatives.

93% of the African population cooks on log fires. Due to the population growth, they need more and more wood to survive, which results in pressure on the forests. Moreover, log fires are quite unhealthy: the smoke causes respiratory infections, the second most important cause of death in Africa after malaria.

That is why ION supports the ‘Saving Trees’ project in Uganda. The NGO that organises the project distributes simple cookstoves that need much less wood and produce less smoke. Thanks to such a stove, a household needs half as much wood and saves around 100 dollars a year. Each stove avoids 2 tons of CO₂ a year and is produced locally. In addition, the local population is also trained to produce and repair the stoves.

You do not receive a CO₂-neutral label that easily. CO₂logic has to be able to present concrete figures to prove that our efforts yield results. Certified projects do not simply plant trees while elsewhere trees are cut. ION has already supported projects that protect the climate in the long term for five years. We will definitely continue to do so for many more years to come.