Estimación de la huella de carbono institucional del ministerio de relaciones exteriores - cancillería, sede centro (Bogotá D.C.)

Abstract

Climate change is one of the main environmental, social, and economic challenges globally, prompting governments and public sector entities to strengthen their strategies for mitigating and managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this context, estimating the institutional carbon footprint is becoming a key technical tool for identifying and managing emissions associated with organizational activities, contributing to informed decision-making and strengthening environmental management. In Colombia, climate action is supported by a regulatory framework that promotes emissions reduction and compliance with environmental commitments, most notably Law 2169 of 2021, which aims to strengthen actions against climate change. Additionally, the NTC ISO 14064-1:2020 standard establishes the technical guidelines for quantifying and reporting GHG emissions at the organizational level, making it a recognized benchmark both nationally and internationally. The purpose of this methodological exercise is to establish guidelines for estimating the institutional carbon footprint of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Central Headquarters for the period between January 1 and December 31, 2024. The analysis is limited to GHG emissions associated with the management and operation of the headquarters, considering only those sources over which the entity exercises operational control. It is important to note that, given the unavailability of all activity data at the time of preparing this document, the scope of this work focuses on defining the methodological framework, identifying and classifying emission sources, and structuring the calculation procedure, so that quantification can be carried out later once the information is provided by the responsible departments