A sustainable future: KVK and the CO₂ Performance Ladder
- Edited 16 May 2025
- 2 min
- Sustainability
KVK is working towards a sustainable future. One of the ways we do this is by reducing our CO₂ emissions. We use the CO₂ Performance Ladder to do so: a system that helps governments and businesses to measure and reduce their CO₂ emissions. KVK has level 3 certification on the CO₂ Performance Ladder.
Every decision we make, big or small, affects the world around us. As a public service provider, we have a responsibility to make that influence as positive as possible. Not only towards entrepreneurs, but also towards our client, (network) partners, suppliers and our employees. That is why KVK is striving for climate-neutral business operations in 2030.
What is the CO₂ Performance Ladder?
At KVK, we tackle our CO₂ emissions using the CO₂ Performance . This system helps organisations measure and reduce their CO₂ emissions, also known as the CO₂ footprint. The CO₂ Performance Ladder consists of 5 levels. The first 3 levels focus on reducing the CO₂ emissions of one's own organisation. Levels 4 and 5 also deal with emissions outside the organisation, such as those of suppliers and customers. If you meet the requirements of a level, you receive a certificate for that level. Each year, certified organisations are reassessed by an independent and accredited party.
In 2025, KVK achieved level 3 certification on the Performance Ladder. We focus on reducing CO₂ emissions within the organisation first. In doing so, we look critically at the energy consumption of the KVK locations, our vehicle fleet, and our business travel.
Our CO₂ footprint
To calculate our CO₂ footprint, KVK uses the Greenhouse Gas . This is the most widely used method worldwide to map the emissions of organisations. As a result, we know exactly what KVK's CO₂ footprint is: 1,844 tonnes in 2024. That figure is based on total emissions from the 17 KVK locations, our leased and company cars, and business travel.
The calculations show that 63.8 per cent of our total CO₂ emissions come from consumption of electricity for lighting, ventilation and use of ICT equipment at the KVK sites, among others. Heating follows with 22.1 per cent of total emissions. Our locations are mainly heated with natural gas. Four locations use district heat and two locations use electric heating systems, such as heat pumps.
Business travel accounts for 14.1 per cent of our carbon emissions. Of this, most comes from business trips by private cars, as shown in the figure above. Public transport accounts for 3.1 per cent of the total, fuel consumption by company cars 0.1 per cent, and leased cars 2.6 per cent. Business air travel by KVK employees causes 1.5 per cent of total emissions. According to the CAO Rijk, employees are allowed to fly only if the train journey exceeds eight hours, or is more than one and a half times as long as the air journey.
Getting to work
Now that we know what our emissions look like, it is time to get to work. We have drawn up a CO₂ policy with concrete goals and measures. For instance, we are taking further energy-saving measures at our KVK locations. These include reducing the number of printers and adjusting lighting. We are also starting a new transport policy, encouraging even more employees to come to the office or business appointments by public transport or bicycle.
You will find more information about the concrete actions KVK takes towards CO₂ emission reduction in our Energy management plan (only available in Dutch).
Every year, we go through the steps of the CO₂ Performance Ladder again. We collect and monitor data on our footprint, assess whether we have achieved previous reduction measures, and look at what new measures we can take to further reduce our emissions. This is how we continue to work towards sustainable operations.