How Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reported and Categorized?

Let's talk about GHG emissions and how they are reported according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol by categorizing them into three scopes. 

Scope 1 GHG Emissions

Scope 1 emissions are a company's direct fossil fuel combustion. So what fossil fuels are they burning? And how did those direct admissions get reported?

While not all companies are burning fossil fuels, most are using at least a small amount of them—perhaps in diesel backup generators, or if they have a company fleet. If so, those would be categorized as Scope 1 emissions.

Scope 2 GHG Emissions

Meanwhile, Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions, or emissions made through purchased energy or purchased electricity.

An example would be the power we use in our office buildings or at home—even though these are not emissions that we're generating directly (because we're not the ones burning fossil fuel), we are still generating them indirectly through the utility we pay for that may be burning fossil fuels elsewhere to provide electricity.

Scope 3 GHG Emissions

Finally, there are Scope 3 emissions. These are also indirect; however, they're not done through purchased or procured energy—rather, these emissions are those that originate from the supply chain that has helped you produce your products or helped you develop a service that's gone to market.

In other words, your Scope 3 emissions are those that are upstream and downstream—emissions that are generated before you sell a product or service and those that are emitted once you've sold a product or service.

As an example, for a company like Apple, a big portion of their Scope 3 emissions would come from the power their customers use to recharge iPhones or other Apple products.

Have More Questions?

In a nutshell, that's how greenhouse gas emissions are categorized and reported—as Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3. As you dig deeper, you may find that it does get a little bit more complicated,  but that's what we're here for as sustainability experts.

So if you do find you have further questions, please feel free to get in touch with Schellman via our website or contact me, Tom Andresen, directly.