Exporters are receiving more questionnaires from European customers asking for their carbon footprint. The language of these requests comes from the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1, which divide emissions into three scopes.
Scope 1: direct emissions
Emissions from sources you own or control: fuel burned in boilers, generators and company vehicles, and refrigerant leaks from air conditioning and cold rooms.
Scope 2: purchased energy
Emissions from generating the electricity, steam or heat you buy. For most factories and offices this is the largest single item and the easiest to measure from utility bills.
Scope 3: the value chain
Everything else upstream and downstream: purchased materials, transport, business travel, waste and the use of your products. It is usually the largest share but also the hardest to measure, so start with the categories that matter most for your business.
Why it matters now
Under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, importers of goods such as cement, iron and steel, aluminium and fertilisers must account for the emissions embedded in them, so they ask their suppliers for the data. Other buyers need supplier data for their own Scope 3 reporting.
Where to start
Collect twelve months of fuel, electricity and refrigerant data, calculate Scope 1 and 2 first, and document your sources and emission factors so the figures can be verified later.