What emissions sources can I exclude?
Under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the following emissions should be included:
- All Scope 1 and 2 emissions under Operational Control
- All Relevant Scope 3 emissions (see Relevance Test below)
There are a couple of reasons you may exclude certain emissions sources.
- Organisational Boundary: Out of Scope
Operational control is the key concept to consider here. If you don’t have authority to introduce and implement operational, health & safety, or environmental policy over an entity, JV or business unit, it can be considered out of scope. - Emissions Boundary: Relevance Test
Scope 3 emissions sources are relevant, and should be included, when any two of the following conditions are met (as per the GHG Protocol – Corporate Standard (WBCSD and WRI, 2004)):- the emissions from a particular source are likely to be large relative to the organisation’s electricity, stationary energy and fuel emissions
- the emissions from a particular source contribute to the organisation’s greenhouse gas risk exposure (i.e. will the impacts of climate change pose a serious risk to the viability of this emission source over a timeframe suitable to the organisation)
- the emissions from a particular source are deemed relevant by key stakeholders
- the responsible entity has the potential to influence the reduction of emissions from a particular source
- the emissions are from outsourced activities that were previously undertaken within the organisation’s boundary or from outsourced activities that are typically undertaken within the boundary for comparable organisations.