Calculations of carbon footprint 2019–2021

Frame’s carbon footprint for 2019, 2020 and 2021 has been calculated using the Hiilifiksu järjestö (Carbon-smart organisation) project’s free and open excel-based calculator, which specializes in energy, mobility, procurement, waste and services. Services include emissions generated by serving food, cleaning, and the use of telephone and network connections.

A separate calculator was created for each area of Frame’s work – grant and programme activities, the Venice Biennale, communications and administration, and Frame employees collected the information needed for the calculation. The detailed baseline data was compiled in separate files, from which the combined data (e.g. the train-kilometers required to fullfil programme activities) were transferred to the calculator. The calculations were made according to the “sufficient accuracy” principle: the aim was to identify the largest sources of emissions without spending an unreasonable amount of time on it.

Data was entered into the calculator using various units: energy consumption in kilowatt hours, travel in passenger kilometers, food serving portions, waste kilograms. Emissions from cleaning, telephone and internet use were based on euros paid for services. Reconstructing the data from the past year was sometimes challenging, and some data was difficult to render in a usable format. With grants awarded for transportation and the installation of exhibitions, for example, only the total amounts of money were known, so this information could not be entered into the calculator.

The narrow nature of the calculator is also a problem that applies to all carbon footprint calculations: although the aim is to determine the total carbon footprint of an activity, only a limited amount of data can be entered, which means that the result of the calculation will always be less than the actual climate impact.

In 2019 Frame’s total emissions were around 600 tonnes of CO2e. In 2021, Frame’s carbon footprint was altogether around 370 tonnes of CO2e, 270 000 CO2e less than 2019. Almost 90 percent of the emissions originated from grant projects. From 2022 onwards Frame has decided not to calculate the carbon footprint.

In 2021 Frame’s total emissions were distributed between its different operations as follows.

Grant activities 325 000 kg CO2e (88 %)

Other activities together 42 000 kg CO2e:

  • Venice Biennale 16 000 kg CO2e (38 %)
  • Programme activity 9 000 kg CO2e (22 %)
  • Staff travel 10 000 kg CO2e (24 %)
  • Administration 6 500 kg CO2e (16 %)
  • Communications 24 kg CO2e (0 %)

Looking at the same emissions according to source, most of Frame’s climate burden came from travel (flying) and accomodation, transportation and events.