Different greenhouse gases have different warming effects. CO₂e converts those effects into a shared unit so the climate impact of a product, material or process can be compared more clearly.

In product footprinting, CO₂e is useful because it gives teams a climate-focused view of impact. It is not the same as total environmental impact, so it is often helpful to use CO₂e alongside broader indicators such as eco-costs.

If a material or process emits methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, CO₂e combines their climate effects into one footprint result.

Pickler provides product carbon footprint results in CO₂e and can combine them with other indicators for broader product impact decisions.