Assessment and Forecasting of Metallurgical Enterprises Carbon Footprint in the Sverdlovsk Region

The achievement of the targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is ensured, among other things, through direct price regulation measures, for the implementation of which a necessary condition is the calculation of the carbon footprint of products. At the same time, carbon footprint targets can be used as driving parameters to set industry targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to provide government support measures for enterprises. The aim of the work is to develop a methodological approach to the use of the «carbon footprint of products» indicator as a parameter for assessing the current and forecast values of greenhouse gas emissions from enterprises in industries that are subject to carbon regulation. The hypothesis of the study is to justify the use of target values of the indicator «carbon footprint of products» for strategic estimates of greenhouse gas emissions in the process of industrial decarbonization. For this purpose, the paper considers the organizational and economic mechanism of the European emissions trading system. A methodical approach to determining the carbon footprint of metallurgical products is described, and calculations of the carbon footprint of metallurgical enterprises in the Sverdlovsk region are performed. Calculations based on average indicators of the carbon intensity of products of Russian metallurgical enterprises showed that the total carbon footprint of the metallurgical sector of the Sverdlovsk region in 2021 is 21.8 million tons of CO2-eq; its target value may be 16.7 million tons of CO2-eq . Differences in values are due to the existing structure of manufactured products and applied technologies. The development of standard metrics for assessing greenhouse gas emissions at the enterprise level, regularly conducting such an assessment and its verification by an independent organization may constitute a preparatory stage that makes it possible to launch a mechanism for trading greenhouse gas emissions at the regional or country level. Additionally, the carbon footprint of products can act as a control parameter while establishing quantitative values for the volume of greenhouse gas emission reductions. The proposed methodological approach can be used by decision makers to shape regional decarbonization policies.