Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 - What is That All About???

As soon as you get into a conversation about CO2, GHG, GHP, CO2e, Decarbonization and so on, people start to through the terms "Scope 1/2/3" around and I am not sure that everybody who uses them actually understands them. Well, here is my attempt at summarising them, but I am not proud. If you think that I am wrong or inaccurate then feel free to help me to learn. Anyway, here it goes:

Scope 1

This is the most fundamental scope. It basically means that you (or your company) directly burns fossil fuels. Popular examples are:

  • Company cars fuelled by patrol, LPG, diesel (or gas if you are from the US)
  • Generators to provide electricity if the mains supply fails
  • Furnaces
You get the idea - if you burn it and the result is the emission of carbon, than it is Scope 1

Scope 2

This is basically all the non fossil fuel energy you you buy. So usually that is the electricity for your offices, data centres and factories. There is not really much more to say about Scope 2.

Scope 3

Now this is the tricky one! This is basically the carbon footprint of anything you buy. The problem is that it is incredibly difficult to get a handle on the carbon footprint of your complete supply chain. The main issue is that everybody is really only just learning how to do this and therefore you are dependent on your suppliers. In my opinion it is absolutely crucial to work with your suppliers in partnership so that you can work this out together. Oh yes - and make sure that any tender you put out has the requirement for carbon reporting cemented into it.

So, these are my thoughts on Scopes 1, 2 and 3. As I said in the beginning, if you think that you can help me understand these even better then please do so.    

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