10. Carbon footprint

The carbon footprint is a tool for accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated over the course of a year. Greenhouse gases are gases whose sharp rise is contributing to climate change. Climate change is the cause of extreme weather phenomena, such as worsening droughts, heat waves, floods, melting glaciers and so on.

To limit global warming, it is fundamental to reduce GHG emissions. These gases are carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), methane (CH ₄ ), nitrous oxide (N ₂ O) and fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF ₆ ) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Water vapor and ozone are not taken into account, as their life cycles are deemed too short.