The Scope System

Introduction

The scope system is divided into three categories: Scope 1, Scope 2, & Scope 3 emissions. Each category represents emissions based on how directly they relate to the organization or activity being measured.

Scope I

Scope 1 emissions are the most direct form of emission that a company can produce. They occur when something the company owns or uses requires emitting greenhouse gases to operate, such as driving gas-powered company cars.

Essentially, any greenhouse gas emission directly resulting from an action the company takes is classified as Scope 1.

Scope II

Scope 2 emissions are any company action that requires power usage. One layer removed from direct emissions, scope 2 emissions track the carbon footprint related to the sourcing of energy that a particular company buys. For example, if the electricity used to power a company's office comes from coal, they would have more scope 2 emissions than a company that uses a solar energy PPA.

Scope III

Scope 3 emissions are more complex. Also called "value chain" emissions, Scope 3 emissions are where 90% of corporate emissions occur. They fall into two categories: upstream and downstream.

• Upstream emissions occur from company actions or purchases used to sell their product; for example, business travel and product manufacturing emissions.

• Downstream emissions happen after the product is sold, including power usage needed to use the product and dispose of the waste at the end of the product life cycle.

Put another way:

It's hard to understate how crucial value chain emissions are to quantifying and enacting corporate climate action. Our world is built on long, lean supply chains; the onus of climate action needs to be on the company that interacts with this chain rather than the customer who isn't even aware of it.