SERVICES | EMISSIONS ACCOUNTING
Carbon and Greenhouse Gas emissions accounting
Also known as “carbon footprinting”, this is the core process for understanding and monitoring your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across scopes 1, 2 & 3.
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A foundation for informed decision-making
Carbon footprinting is the foundational analysis for a number of different purposes, including:
- Internal carbon accounting
- Emissions reduction or Net Zero trajectory (with or without SBTi commitment)
- PPN 06 public sector procurement declarations
- TCFD/UK SRS compliance or aligned reporting
Greenhouse gas accounting follows a strict methodology with an evolving best practice, so few businesses can afford to maintain a trained internal resource to undertake this on a regular basis. The data required for analysis is typically distributed across a number of teams or functions, using it for different purposes, and emissions accounting can lead to duplication of work to collect the same data for multiple purposes.
Whatever the purpose, the essential objective and outcome is the same – calculate the emissions footprint for the business, including all material and significant emissions sources.
Any organisation might be required to, or decide to, prepare a GHG inventory, but typical business drivers are:
- Non-financial reporting for annual reports
- Ongoing accounting to meet SBTi or other commitments
- Requests or expectations from customers
- Requirements of investors or other partners
- Alignment with industry best practice
Understand the key stages of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and how they apply to your reporting.
Base year (BRY):
This is your first emissions footprint and the starting point for quantifying future performance. We will work with you to agree the most complete and representative year for the base year, ideally aligned with your existing business reporting periods.
Most recent year (MRY):
Calculations for any subsequent year after the base year. Calculations include a comparison to the base year and, where you have an emissions reduction objective or trajectory, comparison to desired performance.
PPN 06:
This is the UK government requirement for carbon reduction plan reporting in public sector procurement and requires a smaller subset of emissions categories, excluding non-operational scope 3.
Rebaseline:
Where there are significant changes to a business (e.g. expansion, major site changes, acquisition/divestment of parts of the business), it is necessary to adjust the base year to align with the current operations. This ensures emissions performance is comparable to the base year.
This principally means addition or removal of actual or extrapolated operational data but could also include portions of purchase ledger data where detailed allocation is available.
Our objective is always to work with you and facilitate implementation for the long term.
To do that we:
- Start with the data you have and use wherever possible, to avoid duplication of work
- Work with your staff to obtain the best data and help them understand what is needed and how it will be used for calculations
- Identify and discuss data gaps and opportunities for improvement to how data is collected and managed
- Over time, support the transition of preparatory calculations in house to reduce cost of future calculations
- If you are able to resource the whole footprint process in house in principle, we can provide training and/or validation services to ensure quality of output
Agree the relevant emissions categories based on your business operations
This is based on the principle of materiality that considers both the scale of emissions and the importance to strategic decision making relating to emissions sources.
Collate primary data for operational direct and indirect emissions
- Scope 1 – fuels burned, F gas and some industrial/medical gases
- Scope 2 – electricity used and bought in heat/steam
- Scope 3 operational
- Water use
- Waste
- Third party transportation
- Business travel
- Home working & commuting
Identify the best data sources and approaches for determining non-operational scope 3
- Purchased goods and services – typically spend based in the first instance, but material quantity and hybrid approaches can be used if sufficient data is available
- Capital expenditure and major projects
- Other significant upstream and downstream emissions where relevant
Forestry, Lang & Agriculture (FLAG)
Emissions associated with significant management of land can included if relevant. This might include farming, forestry or management of non-operational green spaces.
Calculate the emissions footprint and identify significant emissions sources
As standard, all our calculations are completed using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology. Emissions factors sources are documented and, where possible, use publicly available data such as Defra, in line with best practice.
Where more accurate emissions data sources are available related to your supply chain, these can be incorporated as appropriate.
Customers typically receive:
- Executive summary report including key findings, data gaps and recommendations for improved calculations
- All scopes emissions inventory workbook detailing all inclusions
- Comparison to base year performance and/or Net Zero trajectory
- Data quality assessment
Benefits of specialist support
Working with us helps organisations:
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Save internal time and resources
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Understand and develop their data inventory to streamline future reporting
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Ensure accurate reporting, with documented assumptions and estimation
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Have a firm foundation for developing strategy and monitoring performance
Why choose us
- Over 25 years’ experience in energy and carbon management
- Specialists in data analysis, metering, compliance and Net Zero
- Deep understanding of UK regulatory frameworks
- Practical, implementation‑focused support
- Ability to integrate with wider energy, carbon and sustainability services
- Independent, unbiased advice based on real data
Get in touch
Whether you need your first emissions footprint or your tenth, we offer a supportive and streamlined service to give you the analysis and insights for reporting and decision making.
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Our impact
See how we help organisations reduce energy costs, meet compliance requirements and build resilience to climate change.
