“We want to comprehensively promote the green transition in the tourism industry. With this competitive tendering process, we were looking for a partner to develop and implement a national carbon footprint calculator for the tourism industry, as well as related training and expert services”, says Liisa Mäkelä, Manager, Sustainable Travel Development at Business Finland, about the background of the cooperation.
In practice, the carbon footprint calculator is a browser-based tool into which a company can enter its own consumption figures regarding energy use, travel and procurements, for example. The calculator tallies the consumption data using certain emission coefficients and gives a result on the carbon footprint.
The carbon footprint is one of the most significant metrics that companies track, but the way that it is calculated is surprisingly old-fashioned. This means that the emission coefficients are also lagging behind, which slows down the process of making changes.
“Our solution enables the planning of proactive measures, simulation and making better decisions. This has significant implications for the fight against climate change. The impact is increased by the fact that the calculator can also be used in other industries”, says Business Manager Minna Häkämies from Digia’s Data and Analytics unit.
Digia’s partner Positive Impact Finland has been involved in developing a pilot version of the calculator, which has well over a hundred tourism companies as users. Digia is responsible for the calculator’s data analytics and content and usability development. The implementation of the service will start during autumn 2022 and the service will be fully completed by the end of 2024.
“It is great to be able to further develop the calculator together with Visit Finland and Digia into a national solution. Digitalisation brings the necessary impact and speed to the sustainability revolution, including in the tourism sector. We are happy to be involved in boosting national sustainable tourism with digital tools and in developing the already popular Sustainable Travel Finland programme of Visit Finland”, says Elina Levula, CEO of Positive Impact Finland Oy.
Further information:
Liisa Mäkelä
Manager, Business Finland
+358 (0)50 525 7479 / liisa.makela(a)businessfinland.fi
Minna Häkämies
Business Manager, Digia Finland Ltd
+358 (0)40 516 6108 / minna.hakamies(a)digia.com
Elina Levula
CEO, Positive Impact Finland Oy
+358 (0)44 024 0390 / elina.levula(a)positiveimpact.fi