Growing interest in calculating carbon footprint among Mallorcan companies

“We were sure that if we provided companies with clear steps to follow in the fight against climate change, SMEs would do it”. So says Marco Mendoza, CEO of Trueworld, the company that has just signed an agreement with PIMEM to promote the decarbonisation of small and medium-sized companies in Mallorca. In just four hours since the announcement of the agreement on Tuesday 11 October, the product’s website received more than 178 visits. The price of the kilowatt is teaching us that we have to adapt”, says Mendoza, who assures that energy, water and fuel are “the axis of almost all the pollution produced by human beings”. That is why we need to focus on “how we heat, how we cool, promote renewable energy sources and encourage responsible water consumption”.

Marco Mendoza. Photos: Trueworld.

TrueWorld aims, once the footprint has been measured, to invite both companies and institutions to have a zero emissions balance. “The key is not to consume more natural resources than necessary or above the carrying capacity that we know today and can manage perfectly well,” Mendoza explains.

Offsetting the impact on the Balearic Islands

Currently, carbon footprint offsetting programmes were linked to developing countries. “It is unacceptable that the offsetting of the impact of Balearic companies should go to projects that have little evidence of their effectiveness. There have been cases in which it has been detected that the same tree has been ‘planted’ twenty times”, warns Mendoza. For this reason, and following the slogan ‘Think global, act local’, “we have registered five projects to offset the footprint in the Balearic Islands with the support of Gold Standard and Verra. In the Balearic Islands we have problems in the marine environment, the Mediterranean, as well as in the forests, etc., and there are several important organisations that have really ambitious projects, such as the Marilles Foundation, Cleanwave or Save The Med,” Mendoza points out.

Two of these projects are related to marine protected areas, another to the Serra de Tramuntana, a fourth “very specific” one would be in Sa Duaia (Artà), and the most recent would be related to the LIFE nature conservation funds.

In order to register these projects, which could become a reality in the coming months, they have been asked to meet two conditions: “Real-time monitoring and the use of blockchain technology to ensure transparency,” says Trueworld’s CEO, who proudly declares that they are a technology provider for the United Nations and the Secretary of State for Tourism.

Lack of will in the Balearic Islands

Despite these achievements, for Mendoza “it is a pity that all the support we have had has come from outside Spain. We knocked on doors in the Balearic Islands and didn’t see the will, but thanks to the private sector and international organisations, they now understand that we have taken a good step. Trueworld is currently in talks with the Port Authority, Ports IB, the government and other entities on the islands interested in its actions.

“We are scientists and we like to be understood as a scientific company,” says the CEO of the Mallorcan startup, who reminds us that “we have to reconnect people and nature. The institution is secondary because, at the end of the day, technology is one step ahead. The important thing is that there is a natural need and behind it there is a company or person that carries out an environmentally positive activity, thus connecting one with the other”.

Scientific team

Based in Mallorca, Trueworld has been working for two years with institutions such as the United Nations, the IUCN and UNESCO to measure the carbon footprint. “We are scientists and technicians with a strong focus on environmental issues. That’s why we are working to promote all the talent and knowledge of the team, made up of geographers, marine biologists, environmentalists, etc.”. Based on these premises, 27 partners came together in a cooperative to see how to solve the needs of companies without having to resort to traditional consultancy or advisory services, which are sometimes very costly, slow and static.

“Calculating the carbon footprint of a company costs an average of more than a thousand euros. We have managed, through innovative technology, to make this calculation for 360 euros and complying with all legal requirements and auditors,” says Trueworld’s CEO. The startup provides companies with software with which they can monitor their energy or water consumption in real time, while the certification of the carbon footprint is carried out for the first time with traceability based on Blockchain technology. “But the key has been not just to approach the issue as an audit or just another ISO, but to approach it from the scientific method and the latest technologies. This software allows us to know if there will be a heat wave, for example, and so advise employees to telework, start work at a different time… It is key to have data on what is happening, not just today, so that we can adapt,” Mendoza describes.