As consumer demand for businesses that are transparent about their sustainability continues to grow, more and more companies are choosing to quantify and publicly report on their carbon footprints. Accomplishing this involves measuring and monitoring the amount of carbon emissions that they produce from different sources in their operations. While many companies choose to outsource this work, some may wish to carry it out internally.

 Although this is rewarding, it can often be a confusing and lengthy task. How exactly do you measure a company's carbon footprint and where do you start?

Emission scopes

An organisation's total carbon emissions can be split into three sections or 'scopes' depending on the emission source.

Scope 1 

• The company's direct emissions. These are associated with company-owned resources or activities that the company directly controls. 

• Examples include emissions from the fuel of company-owned vehicles or from manufacturing processes that occur on company facilities.

Scope 2

• The company's emissions from energy that is purchased from a third-party utility provider. 

• Examples include electricity, steam, heat and cooling. 

• Fun fact: If your company gets heating from a natural gas boiler, this qualifies as scope 1 rather than scope 2. This is because the gas fuel is combusted on-site to produce energy rather than arriving on-site in the form of energy like electricity or district heating.

Scope 3

• This is the broadest category; it encompasses all other indirect emissions within the company's value chain. 

• This includes both upstream (e.g. business travel, employee commuting) and downstream activities (e.g. third-party distribution of finished products, end-of-life disposal of sold products). 

• As this is the category over which the company has least control and oversight, it can be particularly difficult to monitor and reduce scope 3 emissions.

Are there official standards relating to measuring and reporting organisational carbon footprints?

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard is widely considered to represent international best practice in measuring and reporting organisational emissions. On the GHG Protocol website you can find an abundance of free guides, resources and calculation tools for your business. Their detailed guide on how to measure each of the 15 sources of scope 3 emissions is particularly useful.

In the UK, quoted companies and some other large companies meeting certain criteria are legally obliged to report their scope 1 and 2 annual emissions according to GHG Protocol standards; reporting of scope 3 is optional in most circumstances, and most unquoted companies have no legal reporting obligations. In Ireland, no companies are currently legally obliged to report on their emissions. 

How do I start to measure my company’s carbon footprint?

The first step in measuring your carbon footprint is to inventory your emission sources and set the boundaries of your project.

If you wish to follow GHG Protocol standards in reporting your emissions, you must include all scope 1 and scope 2 sources. For scope 3, it is up to you to decide what is feasible for you to measure and/or estimate. These parameters will differ depending on the level of time and resources that you allocate to this project. For example, estimating emissions from employee commuting or business travel is generally much simpler than attempting to estimate emissions from the end-of-life treatment/disposal of sold products. The more you account for, the more accurate your total results will be.

Here are some tips for how to monitor a selection of different emission sources within each scope.

Here are some other detailed resources that may help on your journey to monitor and control your business's carbon footprint:

• Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions (UK gov)

  • Accompanying guide for small businesses

• Environmental Reporting guidelines (UK gov)

• Origin Green guidance: pathways to net zero (Bord Bia; written for food companies but contains valuable information for all companies)

• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol)

• Technical guidance for calculating scope 3 emissions (GHG Protocol)

 Whether you choose to outsource the work or conduct it internally, showing that you prioritise sustainability by measuring and reporting on your carbon footprint will give you a competitive edge. A clear picture of your company's current carbon footprint is also vital in order to identify your main sources of emissions and come up with a plan to reduce and manage them, aiming towards decarbonisation. 

Take the initiative – join Techies Go Green!

Techies Go Green is a movement dedicated to decarbonising IT and tech-oriented companies through collaborating and sharing knowledge. Membership is open to both companies and individuals within the UK and Ireland. We would love to have you join and to help you in your journey towards sustainability and decarbonisation.