To address climate change, a growing number of organizations are ramping up plans to reduce emissions. To achieve these goals, it's important to evaluate and reduce emissions up and down the value chain.
The global organization GHG Protocol establishes standards for how the public and private sector measures greenhouse gas emissions. There are three major categories (or scopes) of emissions — scopes 1, 2, and 3. Understanding each of these scopes is the first step in reducing the carbon emissions of your organization.
Scope 1: Direct emissions
Scope 1 are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the organization’s direct control or ownership. This includes things like company owned cars, delivery vehicles, warehouse and manufacturing industrial vehicles — basically anything in your fleet.
Scope 1 also includes emissions from company owned buildings, such as fugitive emissions inadvertently leaking from HVAC systems and those released during manufacturing or other industrial processes.
Steps to reducing scope 1 emissions:
- Transition your fleet and industrial vehicles to electric
- Ensure HVAC systems are up to date and well-maintained
- Upgrade fuel-fired building systems and process equipment to electric
Scope 2: Indirect emissions
Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions released by utilities that generate the energy used by your operations.
Steps to reducing scope 2 emissions:
- Introduce renewable energy like solar or wind into your energy mix.
- Invest in a microgrid that will provide electric reliability to your organization and supply renewable energy back to the wider grid.
Scope 3: Lifecycle emissions
Scope 3 emissions encompass emissions from across the entire lifecycle of a product or service, making them much harder to track, report or reduce.
Downstream scope 3 emissions are produced by vendors, suppliers and partners, both in and out of the US. This includes parts suppliers, transportation and logistics partners and every organization involved in getting your product or service to customers.
Upstream scope 3 activities include business travel, the daily commute of employees to and from work and company waste that’s sent to landfills or wastewater treatment facilities.
Steps to reducing scope 3 emissions:
- Identify emissions hot spots in your supply chain and mitigate them by engaging with your vendors. Consider including clauses in vendor contracts to ensure they’re reducing their emissions and improving their efforts to operate in a sustainable manner.
- Consider work from home options for some employees.
- Encourage employee EV ownership by installing charging stations at your office and factory locations.
Why scope emissions matter
There are several reasons why it’s important to understand your scope emissions. First, while the standards are currently voluntary, that may change in the not too distant future. Some countries are already setting mandates for high polluting industries, though experts agree that all industries have a role to play in mitigating climate change.
Reducing emission is also good for business. Not only can it cut some operating expenses, but consumers are increasingly looking to do business with organizations focused on sustainability. Many companies find that moving towards net-zero provides them with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
See GHG Inventory Development Process and Guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about scope emissions and setting reduction targets.
