How do you integrate scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions data into your decision-making and strategy?

Scope 1 emissions being the direct environmental impact stemming from a company's internal operations allow for an unfettered overview as the emissions are within a company's direct control and accountability. By taking proactive steps to reduce Scope 1 emissions, companies not only minimize their environmental footprint but also demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship in the vein of 'putting your money where your mouth is'.

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from internal operations like fuel combustion and chemical processes. Organizations can reduce them through efficiency improvements, fuel switches, and renewable energy adoption, leveraging significant control and responsibility.

Integrating Scope 1 emissions data into decision-making is crucial because these are direct emissions from your operations, where you have the most control. By closely monitoring these emissions, you can identify inefficiencies and opportunities for reduction, such as upgrading to energy-efficient technologies, transitioning to cleaner fuels, or investing in renewable energy. This proactive approach not only minimizes your environmental impact but also aligns your strategy with sustainability goals, enhancing both operational efficiency and your organization's reputation in the long term.

Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by an organization, such as: Stationary combustion of fuels in boilers, furnaces, and vehicles Mobile combustion of fuels in vehicles owned or controlled by the organization Fugitive emissions from refrigeration, air conditioning units, and other equipment Process emissions released during industrial processes and manufacturing

Align your emissions reduction strategy with relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating your organization's commitment to contributing to broader global sustainability objectives.

Scope 2 emissions are indirect from purchased electricity, heat, or steam, not generated on-site but by suppliers. Reduce them by opting for low-carbon suppliers or generating renewable energy locally.

Integrating Scope 2 emissions data into decision-making involves understanding and managing the indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam. Although these emissions occur offsite, they are a direct result of your energy consumption. To reduce Scope 2 emissions, you can opt for low-carbon or renewable energy suppliers, invest in on-site renewable energy generation, or improve energy efficiency to lower overall demand. By doing so, you not only decrease your carbon footprint but also align your business with sustainability objectives, enhancing resilience and reducing long-term energy costs.

Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur from the generation of energy that is purchased by an organization. These emissions are typically associated with the consumption of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling.? Enter into Off-Site Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs): PPAs are renewable energy contracts between a project developer and a company, where the renewable energy installation is not located at the company's electricity usage site. These agreements can deliver energy physically or be financially settled transactions

Take an educated, tiered approach to your supplier engagement for Scope 3 emissions. Which top suppliers account for the most of your emissions? Those suppliers you want to cover closely, high touch. Set annual decarbonization targets, agree on measures, manage a scorecard, and anchor all of that contractually. For the bulk of lower-tier suppliers, you may want to use a scalable solution to gather and aggregate data (e.g., surveys). You will have suppliers that don't answer to your surveys or simply won't have data. You will have suppliers that run a fully digital emissions management and provide PCF data. So, what you need is a solution that allows you to transition from spend-based to consumption-based calculations.

Scope 3 emissions is a critical outlier in far too many companies’ sustainability reporting, especially because embodied energy and carbon are tied to it. Scope 3 emissions occur in parts of the value chain that most companies have little to no control over – yet they can often represent up to 90% of a company’s emissions. This makes data on these emissions even more crucial. At the Global Network for Zero, our certification process takes an incremental approach, where we help an organization calculate and assess their Scope 1-3 emissions, create a plan and roadmap to zero these out over time, and help them identify best-in-class strategies they can implement at their organization and across their value chain to get there.

Supplychain organizations are largely unaware of how they contribute to scope 3 emissions & are learning their role in the path to net-zero. I learned this at the 24th World Petroleum Congress.

Assessing scope 3 emission data is not an easy task. Estimating parts will probably necessary in the beginning but make sure to build up the needed capacities later on. For services in the IT space there are already quite a few good tools to assess the impact of cloud services, the produced code or whole applications. Especially the big cloud providers do have nice tools ot assess this but also open source tools bring value into this. The good news here: Very often opting for greener IT services comes together with a financial optimization!

Tracking emissions along the supply chain is not an easy task. There are quite some interesting solutions with technical background (e.g. blockchain or QR codes). A lot of emissions are "lost" here - so very important to check on this and make sure you have ways of at least estimating your contirbutions here.

Decision making around emissions are best made by quantifying the significance in financial figures, especially if they are also to reflect alignment with business strategy. The suggestion is to consider 'Carbon Pricing' for all emissions within the defined boundaries and integrating the emissions-related financial figures with planning, budgeting, project/product/vendor selections, target-setting, incentivizing for each department. The bottomline is to align performance measurements at department and team levels to the strategic mission of cutting down the GHG footprint. Once this happens, the decision-making at both strategic and tactic levels will give the emissions data the respect it deserves.

En realidad, cualquier proceso corporativo hacia la sostenibilidad debería comenzar por el registro de emisiones GEI, (no necesariamente Alcance 1, 2, y 3; porque aquí nos estamos olvidando del modelo ISO 14064 que tiene categorías diferentes). Sin un registro de emisiones, no hay camino hacia la sostenibilidad corporativa. Una vez que conoces tu parte alícuota como emisor de GEI, toca ponerse límites para comenzar a reducirlos. Es ahí donde la organización empezará a encontrarse con nuevos desafíos corporativos.

Data ingestion is the most critical part of an environmental management solution. Create a data strategy and governance first. Based on your materiality assessment and organizational boundaries: which data to you need to measure your impact, where does this data reside today, who owns it, which format has it, how frequently you need answers. Any good environmental management solution will at least let you (a) ingest data manually, (b) via CSV uploads/ ETL, (c) via portals or apps, (d) via external database connectors, (e) full API-led integration/ IoT data streams/ RPA for unstructured data.

Integrating scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions into strategy requires adherence to GHG Protocol principles: relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, transparency. Define boundaries, select standards, quantify emissions using factors, and validate data for reliability and clarity in reporting.

Integrate and Report: Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions: Combine the calculated emissions from each scope to get a comprehensive picture of company's carbon footprint. Reporting: Use the integrated emissions data to set reduction goals and track progress towards net zero. Strategies for Reduction: Scope 1 and 2 Emissions: Implement measures to reduce direct emissions, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy. Scope 3 Emissions: Focus on reducing indirect emissions by working with suppliers, promoting sustainable practices, and optimizing product use and disposal

Below are some of the suggestion on how Scope 1, 2 and 3 data can be used by corporates to make an impactful NetZero Strategy. - Set GHG reduction targets based on the insights from scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data. - Track and monitor progress against the set reduction targets for each scope of emissions. - Analyze emissions data to identify hotspots and opportunities for emissions reduction across all scopes. - Prioritize emission reduction actions based on potential benefits and costs revealed by the emissions data. - Communicate emissions data and reduction strategy transparently to stakeholders and the public. - Engage with stakeholders and partners to collaboratively reduce shared emissions and increase positive impacts.

Les émissions de scope 1, 2 et 3 sont cruciales pour identifier les chantiers prioritaires dans la stratégie de décarbonation d'une entreprise. Une fois le bilan carbone calculé, l'entreprise est prête à passer à la définition d'objectifs de réduction, pour ensuite passer à l'action. Les postes d'émissions majeurs sont à prioriser, et d'autres critères tels quel la facilité d'implémentation peuvent aider les entreprises à plannifier les projets de réduction des émissions à implémenter.

A sustainable business model provides socioeconomic growth, generates Net Zero profits and regenerative climate impacts. The purpose of using Scope 1,2&3 emissions data is to provide transparency and accountability. Given we understand the importance of reporting and how to use data efficiently, we can transform our approach to thrive.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission data, if calculated accurately, provide valuable insights to your company's processes and supply chain. Within the company's operational boundaries, you can make the most of the impactful changes to transition to a lower carbon emission state. This data can support, planning, transitioning, executing, monitoring, tracking, and re-aligning your actions to reduce your emissions. As far as the scope 3 emissions data is concerned, the company can support its suppliers and vendors with consultation, financial, and directional support to reduce their carbon footprint to move closer to the net-zero targets.

Integrating scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data into a firm's decision-making and strategy, helps to take a holistic approach in addressing their environmental impact and drive meaningful progress towards sustainability goals. For example : Apple's scope 3 emissions account for 76% of its total carbon footprint, primarily from its outsourced product manufacturing operations. It gives Apple significant opportunities to use more recycled materials and reduce material usage in its supply chain, which is both an environmental and financial opportunity

Sustainability needs data and we have to make data sustainable! Data needs to be used holistically and not in silos! I have developed a decision journey that focuses on 4 quadrants Protecting REVENUE Growing RELATIONSHIPS Building RESILIENCE Innovating for REGENERATION scope emissions need to be integrated into every decision! Think about product development I.e. Which material choice is better in each quadrant?

Make friends with competitors! Yes, when it comes to leveraging your emissions data along with emissions data from your competitors, the best way to learn the reduction and optimization strategies from your competitors is to learn how they have strategically reduced. In the peculiar area of emission reduction, we are all more friends than foes. a. Learn from your competitors while you devise your strategies. b. Adapt the tactics best suited for your scenarios and march on your plan.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions define a company's carbon footprint from direct, indirect, and value chain sources, respectively. Accurate data is crucial for accountability and effective emission reduction. There are several solutions to capturing and validating such data, for example Salesforce's Net Zero Cloud, aids real-time monitoring to identify emission hotspots, sets reduction targets, and makes informed decisions. This platform is one example of a using a technology solution to foster transparency and sustainability in business operations.

To inform operational decisions, leverage Scope 1 and 2 emissions data to optimize energy use and enhance efficiency across your operations. This data can guide the implementation of energy-saving initiatives, such as upgrading to more efficient equipment or transitioning to renewable energy sources. Additionally, utilize Scope 3 emissions data to make informed choices about your supply chain. Engage with suppliers to help them reduce their emissions, prioritize low-carbon materials, and consider the carbon impact of logistics and transportation options. This integrated approach ensures that your operational decisions align with your overall sustainability goals.

It's only possible to manage what you measure. So data is important and know Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions is the first step for companies to set climate transition plans.