Decarbonising mountain services: the contribution of Mission Carb0
Environment — di Redazione
MC0, a cross-border Interreg France-Italy Alcotra project, is guiding SMEs in the mountain services supply chain through a decarbonisation process.
Decarbonising mountain services: the contribution of Mission Carb0
MC0, a cross-border Interreg France-Italy Alcotra project, is guiding SMEs in the mountain services supply chain through a decarbonisation process.
Italy's mountains cover approximately 35 per cent of the national territory, encompass 2,500 municipalities and are home to more than 7 million inhabitants. But they also represent one of the main drivers of national tourism: more than half of mountain municipalities base a significant part of their economy on tourism and, taken together, the mountain system employs around 1.8 million people through more than 552,000 businesses. This economic and social heritage is now faced with an increasingly urgent challenge: reducing its environmental impact and adapting to the effects of the climate crisis.
When discussing mountain services, the debate often focuses on ski resorts. In reality, the supply chain is far broader and also encompasses design, construction, environmental consultancy, mobility, digital innovation, marketing and tourist destination management. A network of businesses that contributes to the economic development of Alpine territories, yet is simultaneously called upon to rethink organisational models and investments in order to reduce consumption and emissions.
The environmental impact of ski resorts is particularly striking, stemming primarily from energy consumption and artificial snowmaking. According to the guide produced as part of the Interreg Alcotra project Alpimed Clima, operating a ski resort generates between 3 and 12 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per skier, excluding tourist travel. 73 per cent of emissions are linked to electricity consumption, while the remaining 27 per cent depends mainly on the diesel used by grooming machines. The primary sources of consumption are ski lifts, artificial snow production and piste grooming, but the same guide highlights that concrete margins for improvement already exist today through energy efficiency measures, renewable energy and the digitalisation of resort management.
The contribution of Mission Carb0
It is precisely in this context that Mission Carb0 (MC0) comes into play — a project funded by the cross-border programme Interreg France-Italia Alcotra, created to support small and medium-sized enterprises in reducing their climate-altering emissions. The initiative involves four production supply chains — agri-food, mechatronics, aromas and fragrances, and mountain services — across four territories — the Italian provinces of Torino and Cuneo and the French departments of Savoie and PACA — with the aim of transforming sustainability from a mere regulatory obligation into a lever of competitiveness for businesses in Alpine territories.
To achieve this, the project has developed L.I.S.E. – Limita i tuoi impatti e supervisiona le tue emissioni, a platform that allows companies to measure their carbon footprint, analyse direct and indirect emissions and obtain a clear picture of their climate impact. The tool — now available to all SMEs in the four sectors involved in the project — represents the starting point for identifying the main emission sources and building a decarbonisation roadmap, helping businesses to orient future decisions and strategies on the basis of measurable data.
The mountain services supply chain, beyond ski resorts
The analysis carried out within MC0 shows that the mountain services sector is today far more complex than the traditional image associated exclusively with skiing. The businesses involved across the project's four territories belong to six broad categories: managers of ski areas and tourist destinations; manufacturers of mountain equipment and machinery; companies specialising in design, construction and infrastructure; technical and environmental consultancy firms; businesses active in digital innovation and communications; and organisations developing innovative services for sustainable tourism.
This data also speaks to the evolution of the sector. Only a portion of the companies involved directly manage ski lifts or ski resorts. The majority operate in high value-added activities such as engineering, design, digitalisation, consultancy and territorial promotion. A sign of how the mountains are progressively diversifying their offering, complementing winter tourism with services increasingly oriented towards innovation, sustainability and year-round enjoyment of the territory.
As with the other sectors analysed by Mission Carb0, the first step towards decarbonisation in mountain services is also understanding one's own impact in order to identify where to act, set priorities and build a path of continuous improvement. Because the future competitiveness of mountain territories will depend increasingly on the ability to combine tourist development, environmental protection and innovation.
The companies in the Mountain Services sector that took part:
Province of Cuneo
Department of Savoie
17. SARL BR CONSEIL (PRO TOURISME)
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