United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), part of the Belgian financial group KBC, has developed a unique for Bulgaria digital tool to ensure sustainability in the Agriculture sector - UBB Agro Emissions Calculator, which is directly accessible, utterly free-of-charge, on the Bank’s website. The innovative service enables all agricultural producers, both clients and non-clients of the financial institution, through several easy steps to calculate the carbon footprint of their farms – the greenhouse emissions from their activity - into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

Taking into account some basic indicators, fully online, UBB Agro Emissions Calculator computes the carbon footprint of agricultural activities and generates an individualized report. It states the areas of production, deemed point of attention and provides specific recommendations as to through which activities each farm would be able to improve its environmental impact.

The methodology behind the Calculator, being part of UBB’s Sustainable Finance Programme, has been developed with the cooperation and expertise of the Bulgarian Institute of Agrarian Economics. The whole solution represents own know-how of the Bank in aid to all agricultural sector representatives. The digital tool scope covers 28 of the most frequently exercised agricultural activities in Bulgaria, as the focus is on the indicators of those, forming the main part of greenhouse emissions in the sector – methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Calculations for the plant production sector are based on the quantities of fertilizers, chemicals, fuel used in a given farm within a 1-year period and the obtained average yields. For livestock breeding what is taken into account are the practices of breeding and feeding of the animals, as well as those for the storage of manure. Parallel to calculating the result, the values are automatically being compared with average indicators for Bulgaria, thus providing an assessment of each individual farm’s carbon footprint, encompassing all their activities with a possibility to receive a report on the result from the assessment.

The topic about climate change, the global warming consequences and the frequenting natural disasters progressively necessitate that sustainable development should be brought into the focus of public attention. The fast adaptation of businesses and in particular of the agricultural sector to the transformation, resulting from the environmental changes and in response to the policies in line with that, will be of decisive importance for this country, for the economic development and competitiveness over the next years.

„Our commitments towards sustainable development, combined with UBB’s ambition to respond to the needs of its clients and to be their partner in coping with regulatory challenges on the topic, have provoked the development of an innovative product for the agricultural sector. UBB Agro Emissions Calculator is a workable solution for farmers, enabling them to assess their impact on the environment and to subsequently plan measures for transition towards sustainable agriculture. UBB will consecutively provide expertise and will assist companies in the sector with the financing of investments for their transformation in terms of sustainability and carbon footprint reduction.”, commented Desislava Simeonova, Executive Director Small and Medium Enterprises at UBB and Leader of the Sustainable Finance Programme of KBC Group in Bulgaria.

Being of help to farmers, UBB will continue upgrading the project, by developing a Partnership Programme with companies that will support farms with expertise during the transition period, as well as with guidelines and advice for fine-tuned and effective agriculture.