The next step is to calculate a baseline and current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data covering Scopes 1, 2 and 3 as follows:
Scope 1
These emissions come from fuels or resources your business directly owns or controls, such as:
- fuel burned in company vehicles
How to calculate Scope 1 emissions:
- track all fuel purchases over 12 months (for example, litres of diesel for vans)
- note the type of fuel (for example, petrol, diesel, natural gas) and how much you use (for example, litres, cubic metres)
- use free government conversion tools to turn fuel amounts into CO2 emissions
- example: 50 litres of diesel × 2.68kg CO2 per litre = 134kg CO2
Scope 2
These are greenhouse gas emissions produced when generating the energy a company purchases, such as:
- electricity consumption in its buildings
How to calculate Scope 2 emissions:
- collect your energy bills for the last 12 months (electricity, heating, cooling)
- if you share a building, ask your landlord or energy supplier for your portion of energy use
- use the same government tools to convert kilowatt-hours (kWh) to CO2
- example: 10,000 kWh electricity × 0.212kg CO2 per kWh = 2,120kg CO2
This GHG Guidance will help you calculate your scope 2 emissions.
Scope 3
Scope 3 are emissions that occur throughout the value chain of the reporting company, but not produced by the company itself or from assets it owns or controls.
You are required to report against five required categories described in the technical standards document:
- upstream transportation and distribution: emissions from goods delivered to you (for example, supplier deliveries)
- waste generated in operations: emissions from waste your business sends to landfill or recycling
- business travel: emissions from trains, flights, or hotels for work trips
- employee commuting: emissions from staff travel to work (for example, cars, buses)
- downstream transportation and distribution: emissions from delivering your products to customers
Key points to consider:
- use the same 12-month reporting period for all emissions data (with the end date within the last 12 months)
- report emissions in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e)
- use DESNZ conversion rates to convert other greenhouse gases (like methane) to CO2e
How to calculate:
- Give yourself enough time:
- gathering emissions data may require contacting people inside and outside your business, like employees, suppliers, logistic companies or energy providers
- Start with what you know:
- track staff commuting (ask employees how they travel to work)
- collect delivery invoices to estimate transport emissions (for example, miles driven by couriers)
- review waste collection records (for example, tonnes of waste sent to landfill)
- Use estimates if data is missing:
- if you don’t know your suppliers’ emissions, state: “Scope 3 supplier data is being collected and will be updated in 20XX”
- answers like ‘not applicable (N/A)’ or ‘0’ will not be accepted, you will need to give a reason why
- Avoid double-counting:
- if two or more companies are involved in an element of the supply chain – make sure the actual contribution to your emissions is only included once
