We have seen how much is planet’s carbon budget and terms such as net-zero emissions to stay within the limit. These are as fine as targets. But how do we reach there, and how do we know we are on track? Answering these questions requires accounting.
One such thing is the standards defined by the greenhouse gas protocol. They provide the framework for businesses, governments and other entities. For companies, these led to the creation of scopes, which captures their direct and indirect emissions and the ones related to the supply chain.
Take an example of an oil and gas company. There are three scopes for the emissions. Scope 1 means the emissions related to the direct emissions from their operations, e.g., CO2 from the refinery, chemical plant or petroleum production. Scope 2 emissions are mainly the indirect emissions related to the energy they buy to run the operations, such as electricity, steam and heat. And finally, scope 3 happens when the customers burn the products they sell – petrol, diesel or kerosene.
