What actions are needed to reduce your company’s Scope 3 emissions?
CO2 Emissions in the Value Chain
In the GHG Protocol, the most widely used standard for carbon accounting, a company’s CO2 emissions are divided into three areas, or so-called Scopes. Emissions within your company’s value chain fall under the category of Scope 3 emissions. For most companies involved in product development and sales, the majority of CO2 emissions are found in Scope 3. This scope includes all other indirect emissions that a company typically does not have direct control over.
The image below provides an overview of what the different scopes involve.
Overview of GHG Protocol Scopes and Emissions Across the Company’s Value Chain
Scope 3 is divided into upstream and downstream activities. Upstream activities cover emissions associated with the goods and services purchased by the company, while downstream activities include, for example, the use of the company’s products and services by customers until final disposal.
Scope 3, or value chain emissions, therefore includes all emissions that occur "outside the company’s four walls." It is crucial to actively work on reducing Scope 3 emissions as they typically represent the largest part of a company’s total CO2 emissions.
Actions for Reducing CO2 in the Value Chain
Working actively to reduce Scope 3 emissions in your company can be done in several ways. The UN-backed playbook "The 1.5°C Business Playbook" has developed some action suggestions for how companies can begin working on reducing Scope 3 emissions. Read them here:
- Map the CO2 emissions associated with your value chain, i.e., your company’s Scope 3 emissions, to get an overview of which emissions are most significant. Begin tracking and systematically reducing them.
- Once you’ve started accounting for your company’s Scope 3 emissions, set a goal for the first reduction of absolute value chain emissions.
- The 1.5°C Business Playbook recommends that your company’s goal should be at least to halve emissions by 2030.
- Decide the order in which emissions should be reduced, and develop a reduction plan to achieve the goals. Break down the reduction plan into annual targets and milestones.
- Report value chain emissions and plans to reduce them as part of annual sustainability reporting to customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
- Evaluate results and update the company’s goals annually if necessary.
Reduction Measures
To achieve your company’s reduction goals, such as halving the most environmentally harmful emissions by 2030, the 1.5°C Business Playbook outlines some key reduction measures to help your company reach its goals:
- Request that your suppliers commit to the goal of halving the most environmentally harmful emissions before 2030, and include this in your purchasing criteria and supplier Code of Conduct. This will drive the reduction of upstream emissions from purchased goods and services.
- Choose services, materials, and products from transport and data providers based on their climate strategy and transparency regarding CO2 emission data.
- Consider investing in emission-reducing projects within the company’s value chain.
- Integrate strong climate criteria at the heart of your company’s R&D, product, and service design processes. Ways to do this include requiring less material use, using recycled materials or low-carbon materials, or developing circular economy solutions for customers.
- Evaluate the energy and resource consumption of your products and services. Convert them to renewable energy sources. This will drive the reduction of downstream emissions from the use of sold products.
- Set up a plan for reducing employee commuting emissions, for example, by promoting and sponsoring low CO2-emission travel to and from work, and enabling employees to work from home or from green office hubs closer to home.
- Promote the choice of plant-based food in the workplace where possible.
- Evaluate and reduce the CO2 footprint of the company’s financial investments, including pension funds, to ensure they also commit to the goal of halving the most environmentally harmful emissions before 2030.
How Can Valified Help You Reduce CO2 in the Value Chain?
With Valified, you can collect data and gain an overview, allowing you to work strategically with sustainability. Valified makes it easy and efficient to work on reducing CO2 in the value chain. The platform’s structure makes it easy for your company to report data in a dynamic flow, with data that can be continuously updated. The tools on Valified’s platform help standardize your sustainability data, providing business value in your continued work on sustainable transformation, making the complexity of meeting stakeholder, standard, and legislative requirements more manageable. The approach and tools are based on OECD and UN Global Compact recommendations and principles.
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