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A carbon footprint is a calculation of the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an organisation, typically calculated and reported over a period of 12 months.
Greenhouse gas emissions are categorised as direct and indirect and grouped into Scopes for accounting, reporting and footprinting purposes.
Direct Emissions – Scope 1
Emissions are categorised as ‘direct’ when they are generated from activities or sources within the reporting company’s organisational boundary and which the company owns or controls. Under the protocol these are called Scope 1 emissions and are accounted for as such. These largely include fuel burned in company owned assets and refrigerant use.
Indirect Emissions – Scope 2 and Scope 3
‘Indirect’ sources are those emissions related to the company’s activities, but that are emitted from sources owned or controlled by a third party company. These are categorised as either Scope 2 emissions for purchased electricity or as Scope 3 for other non-owned or controlled emissions e.g. rental cars, commercial airlines or paper use.
Once sources are defined and the organisational boundary agreed, emissions data is quantified through scientifically developed factors which convert business data into emissions data. Although there is a degree of scientific and estimation uncertainty in calculating emissions, this is largely beyond the remit of most reporting organisations and uncertainty is accepted as a inherent principle in footprint calculations.
A carbon footprint is the quantification of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by an organisation’s operations. It is an important step for organisations embarking upon a low carbon strategy to calculate their carbon footprint as this acts as a baseline from which to measure the success of carbon and energy reduction initiatives.
