Building a sustainable business means companies must assess all levels of their value chain for areas to make improvements and changes. For some, this can look like addressing not only scope one and two emissions, but also accounting for scope three emissions. In fact, The CDP estimates that scope three emissions account for an average of three-quarters, or 75% of a company’s emissions.1 However, controlling scope three emissions are a little more complicated, because they are out of a company’s direct control. Therefore, Guttman Renewables is providing solutions and answering questions to address the root causes of these emissions.
What Are Scope Three Emissions?
Scope three emissions are the indirect emissions which occur in a company’s value chain. They are the emissions produced by the activities that contribute to the creation of a product, both upstream and downstream, not generated by the company itself.
What Does Eliminating Scope Three Mean for Businesses?
As companies work to become more sustainable, they are monitoring the levels of emissions created at each step of their value chain. Depending on what type of service is provided, companies can take action to assess their business models and implement more sustainable practices, internally or externally.
How Do You Reduce Scope Three Emissions?
As said above, scope three emissions are out of the direct control of companies, as they are not produced by actions of the company itself. This doesn’t mean that companies are unable to act—they can reduce scope three emissions by targeting areas along their value chain responsible for emissions, and then working with suppliers and partners to find ways to track, reduce, or offset those emissions. For example, this could mean switching materials or vendors, or even by optimizing shipping routes. Guttman Renewables provides carbon offsets as a straightforward way to directly address scope three emissions—a partner can track and provide emissions data for the company itself to offset, or they can even work together to both reduce those emissions with sustainable practices and then offset the rest. For more information on how we are helping businesses and their partners create an emissions-free value chain, contact an expert at 724.489.5199 or visit us at Guttman Renewables.
1 https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/guidance_docs/pdfs/000/003/504/original/CDP-technical-note-scope-3-relevance-by-sector.pdf?1649687608
