By Benedict Buckley - April 25, 2013

This article was originally posted on the WRI blog, Insights.

An effective corporate climate change strategy requires a detailed understanding of a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Until recently, most companies have focused on measuring emissions from their own operations and electricity consumption, using the GHG Protocol’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 framework. But what about all of the emissions a company is responsible for outside of its own walls—from the goods it purchases to the disposal of the products it sells?

The GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, released in late 2011, is the only internationally accepted method for companies to account for these types of value chain emissions. Building on this standard, GHG Protocol has now released a new companion guide that makes it even easier for businesses to complete their scope 3 inventories. The guidance is freely available for download via the GHG Protocol website.

How Can Businesses Use the New Guidance?

Assessing GHG emissions across the entire value chain can be complex. For companies just beginning to assess their scope 3 emissions, it can be difficult to know where to start. This calculation guidance is designed to reduce those barriers by providing detailed, technical guidance on all the relevant calculation methods. It provides information not contained in the Scope 3 Standard, such as: * Methods for calculating GHG emissions for each of the 15 categories of scope 3 emissions (such as purchased goods and services, transportation and distribution, and use of sold products);

• Guidance on selecting the appropriate calculation methods; and
• Examples to demonstrate each calculation method.

The guidance can help companies understand the full climate change impact of their business throughout its value chain and develop more effective GHG reduction strategies. This increased understanding can benefit the companies themselves, as well as their suppliers, customers, and other value chain partners. The guidance was developed in partnership with the Carbon Trust, whose GHG measurement expertise and practical experience has helped develop calculation guidance that provides a clear and coherent approach to carrying out a scope 3 assessment.

The guidance is freely available to download via the GHG Protocol website. The guidance for each category of scope 3 emissions can be downloaded separately.

• LEARN MORE: To further support companies to manage value chain emissions, GHG Protocol is also hosting online training on the Scope 3 Standard. The next training is being held May 7th, 8th, and 9th. For more information and to register for the training, visit the GHG Protocol website.

Photo credit: William Cho, Flickr