Tackling Scope 3 emissions appears to be one of the greatest challenges for businesses today. What are they and how are they different from Scopes 1 and 2? Below we will provide a strategy for how organizations, their suppliers, and clients can best address them.
Scope 3 emissions result from the activities from assets not owned or controlled by a reporting organization - in other words - indirect value chain emissions.
“To reduce emissions is to view a system as a whole, and then to make it healthier for everyone in it."
A. Scope 3 Examples.
Client physical assets and services can attribute to supply chain energy and emissions vulnerabilities in the following ways:
Leased assets and franchises
Business travel
Employee commuting
Waste disposal
Use of sold products (Circular Economy)
Transportation and distribution
Offsetting Investments in research or water and forest-based projects
B. The Benefits.
Organizations and business can better understand and greatly improve their supply chain vulnerabilities through highly effective resiliency planning:
Assessing where the energy consumption and emission hotspots are in the supply chain
Identifying resource and energy risks in the supply chain
Identifying which suppliers are leaders and which are laggards in terms of their sustainability performance
Identifying energy efficiency and cost reduction opportunities in the supply chain
Assisting with or find suppliers that implement sustainability initiatives
Improving the energy efficiency of products
Demonstrating how employees can reduce emissions from business travel and employee commuting
C. Methods of Measurement.
Science-based assessment and standard frameworks can help with both preliminary and in-depth analysis in building organizational and business resiliency.
Value and Supply Chain Sustainability Diagnostics
Building an energy efficient and low carbon strategy.
Footprint measurement and Analysis
Calculation of the product, organization, or supply and value chain carbon footprint.
The Carbon Trust Standard
A certification for organizations that are reducing greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions in their supply chains.
*More information can be found at the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard at the GHG Protocol website.
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