Many companies publish annual reports and report on their corporate responsibility during the first half of the year. However autumn is also an excellent time to consider how to prepare in advance for the busy reporting period at the beginning of the year and how to develop your own climate action.
Responsibility and climate action are not just about numbers and reporting requirements. At best, they can bring new insights to the company, support product development, generate clear financial savings, and help with stakeholder communication. These alone are already good reasons to examine your own supply chain, products, and operations from an environmental perspective. In addition, many companies genuinely want to have an impact on the environment and make better choices. Reliable and accurate emission calculations are needed for taking the right emission reduction measures and making the right material choices. So where should a company start?
Scope 1, 2, and 3 -what should a company calculate?
Emissions accounting is already part of the climate action in quite a few companies. The absolute minimum is to calculate the emissions of your own operations, i.e., determining scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. For many smaller companies, this is a good level to start with when climate work is still in its early stages. Scope 1 emissions refer to a company’s own energy production, vehicle fuel consumption, refrigerants, and any other greenhouse gases. Scope 2 emissions include greenhouse gas emissions caused by purchased energy, and these emissions are usually found in every company. Scope 2 calculations are made on a market and location basis. Market-based emissions can be reduced to zero if the company purchases its energy from renewable sources.
However, most of a company’s emissions are usually related to the supply chain. In order to determine these emissions, the company should also also calculate its Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions are divided into upstream emissions, i.e., those that occur before the company’s actual operations, such as purchased products and services, transportation related to procurement, work and business travel, etc., and downstream emissions, such as transportation of finished products, emissions from the use and disposal of manufactured products, etc.
Generally, calculating scope 3 emissions requires a little more work, as more source data needs to be collected. However, we have created easy-to-use emission calculators that comply with the GHG Protocol standards for calculating both scope 1-2 emissions and scope 1-3 emissions, so that the actual calculation work is as easy and clear as possible. Companies can purchase direct access to the calculators. However it is common for the first round of calculations to be carried out as a joint consulting project, after which the company continues the calculations independently.
The consulting project helps to map out the company’s emission sources and to define the scope of the calculation. The calculation is performed by experts, who select the correct emission factors and ensure that the calculation complies with the necessary standards. The completed calculation can be transferred to the company’s own accounts to await the next calculation round. In the simplest case, the following year’s calculation can be done by simply updating the figures. This is also how emissions calculations are done by Turku Energia and Nevel.
Product calculation is an essential part of climate action
Company-level and product-level emissions calculations support each other. This is because the source data for both projects is usually found in the same place in the company’s systems. In practice, a company can start with either one, usually depending on the need: either customers require carbon footprint information for the products they purchase, or company-level calculation is more urgent.
Carbon footprint calculations for products can also be carried out in consultation with experts. OpenCO2net’s tools also include a carbon footprint calculator that complies with the ISO 14067 product calculation standard. This makes it easy to perform calculations yourself. Our most comprehensive access packages include unlimited access to both calculators and a comprehensive emissions database.
If carbon footprint calculation is not too familiar to you and your company has several slightly different products in its product range, a customized calculator tailored to your company’s needs may be the easiest and most cost-efficient choice. The calculator is fully customized to match the life cycle of the company’s products and the company’s brand image. It uses appropriate, up-to-date emission factors. It is also very easy to use, requiring no prior calculation experience or knowledge of standards. Calculations done with the calculator can also be conveniently printed out as reports to deliver to the customers by using a ready-made report template.
Carbon handprint calculation boosts sales
Product calculation serves as a good basis for product development, but it is also usually an excellent marketing tool. Many of our customers also use their customized calculators in sales situations. There they can then concretely demonstrate the climate impact of their products to customers. This is particularly important if the company can offer more environmentally friendly products than its competitors.
Carbon handprint calculation is a methodology developed in Finland by LUT University and VTT for determining positive environmental impacts. If a company’s products or services can offer customers lower-emission alternatives, the company can calculate this improvement as its own carbon handprint.
OpenCO2net’s individual calculators also serve this purpose. In addition, we offer access to a general carbon handprint calculator as part of our product calculator or our broader corporate user access rights. You can find out more about access rights and tools here.
Reliable emission factors as a basis for climate action
Whether you are doing company-level calculations or determining the climate impact of your products, reliable emission factors are the basis for everything. Many tools offer an easy way to calculate emissions automatically with spend-based data. While this is tempting, the results can be significantly higher than those based on physical quantities. We have compared the emissions of different products in this blog.
Achieving emission reductions can be very difficult if emissions are calculated with spend-based data. Rarely do euros spent decrease significantly between years, even if emission reduction measures have been taken. Inflation alone makes it significantly more difficult to verify these emission reduction measures. In addition, lower-emission products or, for example, electricity produced from renewable energy sources usually cost more. This means that consumption may even increase slightly. Therefore if only euros spent are taken into account in the calculation, emissions will actually be higher.
We have compiled Finland’s most comprehensive and one of Europe’s most extensive emissions databases. The OpenCO2 database serves as the basis for all our tools and consulting activities. In addition to our own emissions database, we can also provide our customers with emission factors from the Ecoinvent database. The OpenCO2 emissions database is available to our licensed customers, but emission factors can also be imported into a company’s own systems or even into an Excel file via the OpenCO2 API interface.
SBTi and targets guiding climate action
When calculations are made reliably and using the correct emission factors, setting emission reduction targets is also considerably easier. Many companies now also require their supply chain operators to perform various emission calculations, set emission reduction targets, and commit to initiatives such as the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).
We have helped several companies set their SBTi targets and provided various training courses related to corporate climate action. Setting SBTi targets in particular requires careful emissions accounting and familiarity with emissions accounting standards. Once the calculations have been done correctly, in accordance with the rules for emissions calculation, setting targets becomes much easier.
Emissions reduction targets are also usually a significant part of companies’ transition plans, which are drawn up as part of climate change mitigation efforts. Transition plans can be drawn up in parallel with emissions calculations or, for example, after the first round of emissions calculations. Once the emissions calculation has been completed, it is easier to consider how to reduce emissions and whether, for example, it is possible to achieve the net-zero target.
OpenCO2net provides everything you need to develop your company’s climate action! We offer tools and Finland’s most comprehensive emissions database, allowing you to determine and monitor the climate impact of your operations. Our experts will help your company with emission calculations, emission monitoring, and setting emission targets. Contact us to find out exactly what solutions your company needs!
