The study "Working after Corona - Why home office is good for the climate" commissioned by Greenpeace shows how many CO2 emissions could be saved if the trend of home office continues after the Corona pandemic. The sudden development in mobile working and digitalization has shown the impact flexible working structures can have on the environment: Less commuting means less congestion and exhaust fumes, and thus a reduction in CO2 emissions in passenger transport.
The Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) was responsible for conducting the analyses. The study authors see the establishment and increase of home office days as an important part of the mobility turnaround. Different analyses on teleworking from this year are used as a basis for the calculations. In these, a teleworking share of between 25 and 37 percent was determined (Möhring et al. 2020 / Eurofound 2020a, 2020b). Based on these calculations, the study authors from the IZT develop two different scenarios for the amount of CO2 emissions in commuting that could be reduced simply by establishing the home office in everyday working life.
In their research, the authors do not assume that a large proportion of employees will work from home full-time in the future. Rather, it is more likely that one or two working days will be spent in the home office. In this case, according to calculations, CO2 emissions from commuting could be reduced by up to 5 percent in the "conservative scenario." This would be the case if the telecommuting share is 25 percent. In the "progressive scenario" and a share of telework of 50 percent, savings of up to 18 percent are even possible. But the authors also point out that promoting home offices is only one part of the mobility turnaround. Likewise, an extensive public transportation system and the expansion of pedestrian and bicycle paths are part of the framework conditions for being able to achieve the climate protection goals in passenger transportation.
Source: IZT/Greenpeace
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