What is meant by carbon accounting? Carbon accounting is the process of measuring, tracking, and reporting the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by an organisation, product, or activity. It is a critical component of measuring your organisations’ activities on the environment, environmental management and sustainability efforts, enabling organisations to understand their carbon footprint, set reduction targets, and take action to mitigate their impact on climate change.
Key aspects of Carbon Accounting include the different scope of emissions, where ‘Scope 1’ refers to Direct Emissions; generated by an organisation’s activities, such as company-owned vehicles or on-site fuel combustion). ‘Scope 2’ refers to Indirect Energy Emissions; from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or steam that the organisation uses. Finally ‘Scope 3’ is referring to Other Indirect Emissions; which are a consequence of the organisation’s operations but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the organisation. For example, emissions from the supply chain, employee commuting, business travel, and the end-use of sold products.
Measurement Standards to provide a framework for organisations to measure and report on their emissions, are the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), one of the most widely used international standards for carbon accounting – and ISO 14064: an international standard for quantifying, monitoring, and reporting GHG emissions. The total GHG emissions associated with an organisation are often referred to as its ‘carbon footprint’.
What is the difference between carbon accounting and GHG accounting? They are both methods used to measure and manage emissions that contribute to climate change, but they focus on different aspects of those emissions, for example carbon accounting focuses mainly on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, whereas GHG accounting encompasses all greenhouse gases.
Our sustainability consulting services help you in carbon accounting, providing expertise and service to help you measure, manage and report on GHG emissions. We can help with data collection and analysis on activities that generate emissions, and calculate GHG emissions, ultimately used for tracking, and both internal reporting and external reporting. You can use all this for regulatory compliance and audit preparation, as well as for stakeholder engagement and transparency of your communication.
