Sustainability is more than just a trend, it is becoming an integral part of every company. Reducing their environmental impact has become a must for businesses. One of the most significant ways to do this is to reduce company-related greenhouse gas emissions, which starts with monitoring them.
What is the GHG protocol?
Developed in 1998, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) provides a globally standardized reference framework for measuring and controlling greenhouse gas emissions from the private and public sectors, value chains and emission reduction measures. It was developed in collaboration between the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development due to the need for a unified framework for greenhouse gas reporting.
The GHG Protocol is the world’s most widely used standard for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and was used by 92% of Fortune 500 companies in 2016, directly or indirectly through a GHG Protocol-based program.
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides companies with guidelines on how to quantify and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The GHG Protocol standard refers to standardized approaches that support the management of companies’ GHG emissions, for example to reduce the costs of preparing a GHG inventory and to increase transparency and consistency in accounting and GHG reporting increase.
Scope emissions
According to the leading corporate standard of the GHG Protocol, a company’s greenhouse gas emissions are divided into three categories, the so-called scopes. Scopes 1 and 2 are reportable, while Scope 3 is voluntary and the most difficult to monitor. However, companies that take all three scopes into account create a sustainable competitive advantage.
Scope 1
- Direct greenhouse gas emissions that a company produces and can control itself
- Emitted by burning fuels in company-owned facilities and vehicles, etc.
- Examples: air conditioning in office buildings, in-house manufacturing
Scope 2
- Indirect greenhouse gas emissions caused by a company’s consumption of electricity and energy
- Emitted by power plants, which provide the company with electricity, steam, heat and cold
- Example: purchased electricity
Scope 3
- Indirect greenhouse gas emissions that are not included in Scope 2 and occur within the company’s value chain
- Emitted through the company’s value chain: suppliers, employees, use of the company’s products, etc.
- Examples: Upstream: Purchased goods and services, employee commuting; Downstream: investments, franchising
The majority of total corporate emissions come from Scope 3 sources and as such are likely to have the greatest negative impact, but at the same time Scope 3 emissions are also the most difficult to measure. There are several calculation methods with different emission factors that lead to different results. The simpler methods show lower quality of measurement, while the more specific methodology gives higher quality but is more time and labor consuming.
Track your greenhouse gas emissions with Greenly
Contact Greenly and request a free demo to find out how your organization can implement the requirements of the GHG protocol.