Carbon reporting refers to the act of reporting carbon dioxide or other GHG gas emissions from an organization, a person or an activity. Every item has a carbon footprint. For example a wooden chair - carbon is released when you cut down the tree, when you use electricity to connect the parts, to transport to the shop or house and finally when it is burned or recycled. Carbon equivalents or CO2(e) is a term that indicates all the major Greenhouse gases in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Carbon dioxide is chosen for carbon reporting because it stays in the atmosphere the longest while other Greenhouse gases seem to leave the atmosphere in 10 - 100 years, Carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere anywhere from 1,000-10,000 years. So all the carbon dioxide that we are emitting now will stay in the atmosphere beyond the 2100s. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide is considered 1 and all the other GHG emissions are measured in terms of how much energy is captured by 1 ton of gas in comparison to that of 1 ton of carbon dioxide.
source - https://climatechange.moe.gov.lb/ghg-emissions
Where can we use carbon reporting?
Carbon reporting is a very important tool for an organization to measure its current GHG emissions, identify its major emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2), decide on targets and move its company to a low-carbon ecosystem. till a few years back carbon reporting was not mandatory but owing to the current situation and the Paris Agreement along with the pressure from stakeholders most large companies have started reporting their GHG emissions and set targets to net zero. carbon reporting does have a lot of parameters, different in different countries but mostly has to consider all the GHG and not just carbon dioxide, comparison to previous year data should be provided for comparison, appropriate intensity ratio must be used, the targets set should be achievable and science-based.
So what are scope 1 scope 2 and scope 3 emissions and why is it important?
division of the emissions is important to justify the control an organization has over its emissions. scope 1 emissions are the emissions directly in control of an organization like burning fuel and other operations, scope 2 emissions are the ones that the organizations have limited control over, like the electricity that they get from the grid, scope 3 emissions are beyond an organizations control and the hardest to report, it could be raw materials that they import or the end of life of their product.
The diagram above compiles all about Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions.
While reporting companies mostly choose to ignore the scope 3 emissions, a majority of the time they are the biggest source of GHG emissions in an organization.
Scope 2 emissions, the purchased electricity can also be further divided into the non-renewable electricity used, the self-produced renewable electricity, green tariff etc.
In part 2 of carbon reporting, we will deep dive into what are the best practices in carbon reporting.
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