By Asitha Jayawardena

In the UK, the Climate Change Act 2008 set a legally binding target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 80%, compared to 1990 levels, by 2050.

On 12 December 2015, 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, adopted The Paris Agreement, which is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.

The overarching goal of this agreement is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

Four years later, in 2019, the 80% target was increased by the UK to a 100% target by 2050 and it was called the net zero target.

In October 2021, the UK Government published the Net Zero Strategy: Build back greener, setting out its proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet the net zero target by 2050.

On 28 June 2023, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent, statutory body established under the Climate Change Act 2008, submitted a report to the UK parliament, saying, “The increased transparency embodied in the CBDP [Carbon Budget Delivery Plan] is welcome, but a key opportunity to raise the overall pace of delivery [of GHG emissions] has been missed.” What the CCC says is that the speed of reducing GHG emissions is not enough.

At a time when the global average temperature is slowly approaching 1.2C, we must worry because 1.5C is around the corner.

The local government in the UK

Your local council in the UK has a pivotal role in achieving the 100% target by 2050. In England alone, the UK government’s net zero target in 2050 is attained by over 300 local councils. Many areas such as the local economy, housing, transport, waste, employment, and environment arise under the local government.

Your local council in the UK (or one of the 33 councils in London), tells you how to reduce or cut GHG emissions in businesses and organisations. Still, your local council is an organisation, so it must cut its GHG emissions in the first place, and many local councils are doing so. In reporting progress, the council uses the terminology ‘Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions.’

What are scopes 1, 2 and 3? On the road to net zero, GHG emissions are measured, assessed, and reported, classifying their carbon footprint into three scopes.

The following guide refers to an organisation, which includes businesses, local councils, or any other type of organisation.

The GHG emissions of scopes 1, 2 and 3

In 1998 Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) was jointly convened by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and World Resources Institute (WRI). A multi-stakeholder partnership of businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and others, the GHG Protocol “establishes comprehensive global standardized frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.”

In 2001, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol identified the greenhouse gas accounting standard. As the GHG Protocol says: “Developing a full [greenhouse gas] emissions inventory – incorporating Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions – enables companies to understand their full value chain emissions and focus their efforts on the greatest reduction opportunities”.

The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard shows organisations how to quantify and report their GHG emissions:

• scope 1 emissions, which deals with direct emissions from owned or controlled sources;
• scope 2 emissions, which deals with indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy;
• scope 3 emissions, including all indirect emissions which are not included in scope 2.

Organisations must reduce their environmental impact by reducing their GHG emissions, also called carbon footprint.

To reduce emissions, we must see what the emissions are in the first place. The three scopes are a way of categorising the different kinds of emissions an organisation creates in its operations and its wider ‘value chain,’ comprising its suppliers and customers.

Scopes 1 and 2 are mandatory to report, whereas Scope 3 is voluntary, the hardest to monitor and usually the biggest of all three. However, organisations succeeding in reporting all three scopes will gain a sustainable competitive advantage.

Scopes 1 emissions

The reporting organisation has GHG emissions from the sources that it owns and controls directly. So, they are called direct emissions.

Scope 1 emissions are divided into four categories: 

• stationary combustion (all fuels producing GHG emissions must be included);
• mobile combustion, including all vehicles owned or controlled by a firm, and burning fuel (cars, vans, trucks, etc.);
• fugitive emissions, which are related to GHG emissions (refrigeration, cooling consumed from air conditioning units, etc.);
• process emissions, produced by industrial processes or general production processes, and on-site manufacturing (factory fumes, chemicals such as nitrous oxide etc.).

These emissions are released into the atmosphere as a direct result of a set of activities at an organisation level.

Scopes 2 emissions

Scopes 2 emissions are from the sources that the organisation owns and control but it is indirect, i.e., emissions from the generation of purchased energy of a utility provider. In other words, all GHG emissions released in the atmosphere, from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat, and cooling come under this. The electricity is produced on its behalf (i.e., the reporting organisation).

The increasing use of “electric” vehicles (EVs) means that some of the organisation’s fleets could fall into scope 2 emissions. But if the energy is used during transmissions and distribution, it falls under scope 3 emissions.

Scopes 3 emissions

Scope 3 is indirect emissions but not owned by the organisation, i.e., not from the activities resulting from assets owned or controlled by them. Although linked to its operations, the organisation will be indirectly responsible for its emissions up and down its value chain under the control of suppliers or customers. So, such emissions are affected by decisions made outside the organisation.

Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within the scope 1 and 2 boundaries and is always the biggest one.

According to the GHG protocol, scope 3 emissions are separated into 15 categories. Some of them are:

• purchased goods and services (including all the emissions related to the production of these goods and services before they were bought);
• business travel (such as air travel, rail, and taxis) and employee commuting;
• waste disposal (landfills, wastewater treatments);
• use of sold products (the scope 3 emissions result from the usage of purchased goods and services);
• transportation and distribution (transportation by land, sea and air, and third-party warehousing);
• investments (equity investments, debt investments, capital goods, project finance, managed investments, and client services);

Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and carbon

In this post, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are the ones we looked at but 81% of overall GHG emissions come from carbon dioxide, the principal GHG emitter. The other GHG emissions are methane (10%), nitrous oxide (7%) and fluorinated gases (3%).

The other GHG emissions can be converted into carbon so that, at the end of the day, a value for the GHG emissions is obtained.

Scope 3 is the challenge

Scope 1 and 2, which are within an organisation’s control, have solutions to deliver net zero. For example, an organisation can source renewable electricity, and renewable gas, or electrify its heat demand or transition to electric vehicles.

But scope 3 is where the impact is and, for many businesses, scope 3 emissions account for more than 70 per cent of their carbon footprint. So, organisations have less control over dealing with scope 3.

Committing to reach net zero will involve tackling your scope 3 as well as scopes 1 and 2 emissions.

Measuring your all 3 emissions – scopes 1, 2 and 3 – allows you to:

• Target the main GHG hotspots in the supply chain of an organisation;
• Identify partners and suppliers who are not performing well regarding sustainable indicators;
• Underline potential useless expenses and risks in the supply chain;
• Highlight costs reduction and improvement opportunities;
• Define and implement an action plan to decrease your carbon footprint;
• Engage customers, employees, investors, and partners in a sustainable approach;
• Anticipate the evolutions of law on the obligations of an organisation toward sustainable development.

The local councils in the UK

Businesses have a long way to go when it comes to scope 3 emissions but the local councils in the UK, over 300 in England alone, will have to reduce GHG emissions soon to battle the climate crisis.

2050 is not far away and the climate crisis is worsening day by day. So, we must reduce GHG emissions in the local councils in the UK so that net zero is achieved by 2050.

More…

Climate Change Act 2008 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/contents

The Paris Agreement https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement

Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1033990/net-zero-strategy-beis.pdf

2023 Progress Report to Parliament

2023 Progress Report to Parliament

Local Government Association (LGA) https://www.local.gov.uk/

London Councils https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/

The GHG Protocol: Corporate Standard https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard

What are scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions? https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-are-scope-1-2-3-carbon-emissions#:~:text=Definitions%20of%20scope%201%2C%202,owned%20or%20controlled%20by%20it.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/focus/climate-change/zero-in-on-scope-1-2-and-3-emissions.html

What are Scopes 1, 2 and 3 of Carbon Emissions? https://plana.earth/academy/what-are-scope-1-2-3-emissions

What is the difference between Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, and what are companies doing to cut all three? https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/scope-emissions-climate-greenhouse-business/

What are Scopes 1, 2 and 3 Emissions? https://greenly.earth/en-us/blog/company-guide/greenhouse-gas-emissions-scopes-1-2-and-3