20.4.2022
3
mins
By
Lucy O'Connor
Let’s start with a definition: Scope emissions are essentially a way of categorising the carbon emissions a company emits in its operations and its wider value chain.
There are 3 categories: Scope 1 and 2 are mandatory to report and are relatively easy to measure. While scope 3 is voluntary and much more complex. It is also arguably the most important as it contributes a significant amount to a business’s overall emissions (for example, BrewDog estimate over 80% of their emissions are Scope 3).
So what’s the difference between the scopes? Let’s break it down:
These are greenhouse gases a company makes as a direct result of its operations. Scope 1 emissions are subdivided into the following:
This includes the emissions a company makes indirectly, generated from purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling.
This is where it gets tricky. This category includes all the emissions that an organisation is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. It’s helpful to group scope 3 emissions by upstream and downstream activities:
Upstream activities:
Downstream activities:
While measuring scope 3 emissions is complex, it can help businesses:
✅ Discover emission hotspots in the supply chain
✅ Identify resource and energy risks
✅ Measure suppliers’ sustainability
✅ Identify energy efficiency and cost reduction opportunities in the supply chain
✅ Engage team members and encourage them to measure and reduce emissions from business travel and employee commuting
However, according to research by our partner, Natwest, 87% of UK SMEs are unaware of their business’s total carbon emissions, despite good intentions. Why is there a gap? Because assessing, calculating, managing, and reporting carbon emissions is not an easy task.
Introducing Cogo’s carbon tracker. We empower businesses to track their carbon footprint.
With Cogo, businesses can review their transactions and estimated carbon footprint, see their estimated emissions over time, and compare them month-on-month.
Cogo’s carbon tracker does not rely on simplified equations to calculate the emissions factors of key aspects of a carbon footprint. Instead, CoGo uses the UK’s best economic models that track the entire supply chains of UK industries to ensure all components are included.
CoGo’s approach is not built simply on what companies say their carbon emissions are. It draws on the best economic models, used by governments across the world, to calculate the carbon footprint of businesses based on all the inputs that go into making the products and services they sell.
If you want to partner with us, get in touch today.