Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions: a guide for businesses
Direct answer
Scope 1, 2 and 3 are the three categories the Greenhouse Gas Protocol uses to classify an organisation's greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from your own sources, scope 2 the indirect emissions from purchased energy, and scope 3 all other indirect emissions across the value chain. Together they form your organisation's carbon footprint.
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Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Anyone mapping an organisation's CO2 emissions quickly runs into a question: which emissions actually count? The emissions from your own boiler are clear, but what about purchased electricity, or a product used by a customer? The Greenhouse Gas Protocol resolves this with three scopes. This classification matters to every organisation that calculates a footprint, sets a climate target, or has to report under the Dutch implementation of the CSRD.
- Scope 1 is direct emissions from your own sources, such as a gas boiler or company fleet; scope 2 is the indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat or steam.
- Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions in the chain, upstream and downstream, split across fifteen categories such as procurement, transport and the use of sold products.
- For most organisations scope 3 is the largest share of the footprint, but also the hardest to measure, because the data sit with suppliers and customers.
Insight
Traditional approach
Information is scattered across portals, documents, invoices or separate spreadsheets.
Modern approach
Data, context and interpretation are brought together into a clear decision picture.
Decision-making
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Choices are made based on averages, assumptions or occasional analyses.
Modern approach
Scenarios, KPIs and current measurement data make the trade-off more concrete and repeatable.
Follow-up
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Actions often stay non-committal or disappear into separate reports.
Modern approach
Follow-up actions, monitoring and reporting are linked to the same energy data.
What are scope 1, 2 and 3?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol divides greenhouse gas emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 is direct emissions from sources you own or control, for example the combustion in a gas boiler or the fuel of your own vehicle fleet. Scope 2 is the indirect emissions released when generating the energy you purchase and consume, such as electricity, heat or steam. Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions across your value chain, both upstream and downstream. Think of the production of purchased goods, business travel, waste treatment and the use of products you sell. The protocol divides scope 3 into fifteen categories.
- Scope 1: direct emissions from your own sources, such as a boiler, fleet or production process.
- Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity, heat or steam.
- Scope 3: all other indirect emissions across the value chain, upstream and downstream.
- Scope 3 has fifteen categories, from procurement and transport to the use of sold products.
Why is scope 3 the largest and the hardest?
For most organisations the bulk of the footprint sits in scope 3, outside their own walls. For a trading or service company, purchased goods and services often weigh more heavily than the boiler and fleet combined. It is precisely those emissions that are hardest to measure, because the data sit with suppliers and customers rather than in your own meter cupboard. For scope 3 you depend on figures you have to request in part, or estimate using reference factors. That is why the Greenhouse Gas Protocol published a separate scope 3 standard describing how to calculate these value chain emissions and which categories are relevant for your type of organisation.
- For many organisations scope 3 is the largest share of the total footprint.
- The data needed sit with suppliers and customers, not in your own records.
- Where measured data is missing, calculations rely on emission factors and estimates.
- A separate scope 3 standard describes the fifteen categories and the calculation method.
What do you use the three scopes for?
The scope classification is the basis for a carbon footprint. First you set the organisational boundaries: which parts of the business you include. Then you convert consumption per scope into emissions, for example litres of fuel for scope 1 and kilowatt-hours for scope 2, multiplied by an emission factor. With that overview you can set reduction targets and track progress. The scopes also underpin climate reporting under the CSRD. Companies within its scope report through the climate change standard, ESRS E1, on their emissions across the entire value chain. In this way the same classification enables both internal steering and external accountability.
- First set the organisational boundaries: which parts count towards the footprint.
- Convert consumption per scope into emissions using the correct emission factors.
- Use the overview to set reduction targets and track progress.
- The scopes form the basis for CSRD climate reporting through ESRS E1.
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