edie launches new business guide on Scope 3 emissions

The guide is free to download for edie users

What are Scope 3 emissions? How are they calculated? How can they be mitigated and reduced? And, what are the business benefits of doing so? This free edie Explains guide gives you everything you need to know.

—–CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SCOPE 3 EMISSIONS GUIDE—-

Simply put, Scope 3 refers to all of the indirect carbon emissions which occur in an organisation’s value chain, which do not relate to the generation of purchased energy. Whilst Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions tend to sit within the organisation, Scope 3 typically sits outside – both upstream and downstream.

Because Scope 3 carbon emissions are so wide-ranging in what they encompass, and vary so significantly for different types of organisation, they are the most complex part of
an organisation’s emissions.

However, for most businesses Scope 3 emissions also make up the lion’s share of their total emissions. Many organisations report that 80% of their emissions fall under the auspices of Scope 3 and, for some, Scope 3 accounts for as much as 97% of their overall emissions. Therefore,
in the context of the UK government’s 2050 net-zero target, they are arguably the most important emissions to address.

The guide has been produced with assistance from supporting partners UL and explains everything you need to know about Scope 3 emissions. It features a viewpoint from UL on the importance of getting to grips with Scope 3 emissions to assist holistic decarbonisation strategies.

Earlier this year,  the SBTi announced that it is increasing the minimum temperature pathway ambition for verification to 1.5C, from the “well-below 2C” minimum at present. This represents a major shift in a short amount of time – at the start of 2018, there were only three firms with 1.5C SBTi targets, namely Tesco, Carlsberg and BT.

For targets to be verified in line with 1.5C, if a business’s Scope 3 emissions account for 40% or more of its total annual footprint, targets must be developed to address at least two-thirds of Scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions requirements are likely to be even more strict under the initiative’s new Net-Zero standard, described as the world’s first science-based certification of companies’ net-zero targets. Validation for the new standard will launch officially next year, following a pilot scheme with seven large businesses. Click here for edie’s full story.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EDIE EXPLAINS GUIDE.

edie staff