The Road to Achieving Scope 3 Emissions Reporting Maturity - Part 1

Organisations we speak to have varying degrees of progress and maturity when it comes to Scope 3 reporting. Some companies have already made significant strides in identifying and measuring their Scope 3 emissions, while others are just beginning to explore this area. There are also those who are yet to begin their scope 3 reporting journey. The goal of any emissions reporting should be the eventual reduction of those emissions, but what does the roadmap towards this look like in the Scope 3 space?

This is first of a 4 part series about #scope3 reporting by Greenbase that Fraser Eynon , one of our environmental accountants, shares on the stages of scope 3 reporting maturity. Here we will discuss the first phase of Scope 3 reporting: Initial or Early Reporting. Follow along with us as we move through the common phases to see which applies to you and what you should be focussing on next.

Starting scope 3 reporting doesn’t have to be difficult, this is a space where some is better than none!

Early reporting usually involves picking the low hanging fruit. Data sources used are typically readily available. Following the #ghgprotocol framework and the categories outlined within, some early reporting of categories may look like:

• Purchased goods and services, based on key spend categories by your organisation in conjunction with accounts data.
• Fuel and Energy related activities, based on your existing scope 1 and 2 emissions calculation data inputs.
• Downstream transportation, based on the distribution of your provided goods. This may be as simple as the weight of your annual produced goods, an estimated average distance it travels to consumers, and the main mode of transport i.e. road train.

This is just an example and would almost certainly have plenty of areas for future improvement towards a complete and accurate scope 3 emissions inventory, but it would be a starting point in your first year. Once the first year bandaid is ripped off, you’ll be ready to go and improve your scope 3 reporting year on year going forwards.

In the remaining 3 parts of this series, we will explore how to build on this initial stage and move towards the ultimate goal of any emissions reporting, targeting and implementing emissions reduction!