Smart working as a solution to protect the environment

Incredible but true: every worker engaged in smart working would save even more a ton of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent).

The data emerges from a recent study commissioned by Vodafone Institute for Society and Communication and carried out by Carbon Trust, a non-profit association founded in 2001 to support organizations in reducing their impact on the environment, to analyze the amount of carbon emissions that can be reduced thanks to agile work: conducted in five European countries – including the Italy – and the United Kingdom, the report Homeworking estimated how many emissions could be saved by working remotely even after the health emergency, paying particular attention to commuters and the consumption produced by offices.

According to the study, in fact, in the future approximately 8.23 ​​million jobs in Italy – 36% – will be able to be carried out remotely and people on average will work from home about 2 days a week: in doing so, smart working would allow to Italy to save up to 8.7 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent every year, equivalent to 60 million flights from London to Berlin. The Vodafone Italia headquarters in Milan, for example, in 2020 reduced a drop in emissions of equivalent carbon dioxide by over one thousand tons; on the front of the entire Italian territory, however, the Smart Working Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano reveals that during the lockdown the number of workers active in agile mode increased – in the acute phase of the emergency – up to 6.58 million, which resulted in a reduction of CO2e emissions equal to 1,861 kg for each.

“The report shows that while working from home offers great potential for carbon savings, it is important to understand regional nuances and work patterns and identify inefficiencies that increase consumption in order to create effective savings scenarios,” he explains. Andie Stephens, Associate Director of Carbon Trust, and continues «To fully realize the long-term environmental benefits of an increase in hybrid work patterns in the future, we must ensure that we take different approaches even outside the home. Otherwise, offices that operate at full energy demand despite being only half occupied or transport systems that are unable to respond to the evolution of demand could lead to an overall increase in CO2e emissions».

Would you like to start protecting the environment right away by simply changing some small daily habits? In the gallery you will find 7 useful tips to reduce CO2 emissions.