FAQs

Q. What is the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol?
A. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard is the most widely used and internationally accepted greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standard and is used as the basis for UK standards and tools, such as those published by The Carbon Trust and by Defra.

Q. What is included in a carbon footprint?
A. The boundary and scope of a carbon footprint calculated is dependent on the amount and quality of data available on those business activities that produce CO2 emissions. The scope can be determined by a number of factors including:

Geography – UK; international
Location – head offices; warehousing; distribution
Operations – principal operating company; subsidiaries
Supply chain – upstream; downstream

Q. What’s the difference between direct and indirect emissions? 
A. The GHG protocol defines the scope of emissions allocated to an organisation as follows:

Scope One – direct emissions e.g. from stores, offices and distribution centres
Scope Two – indirect emissions, e.g. purchase of electricity heat or steam
Scope Three – other indirect emissions from upstream and downstream activities.

Q. What is the minimum scope of a carbon footprint?
A. A basic carbon footprint will cover direct emissions and will involve quantifying on-site fuel usage, on-site electricity usage and emissions from the use of company-owned transport. The boundary is usually defined as any emissions that the organisation and its subsidiaries have direct control of, including subsidiaries and leased assets.

Q. If a company already has a basic carbon footprint, what happens next?
A. The main focus of any company’s carbon management programme should be reducing its direct emissions. However, there should also include a target to work towards an assessment of indirect emissions as part of future carbon footprint calculations. This could include emissions from key parts of the organisation’s supply chain and other activities for which the operation is directly responsible, such as outsourced activities or manufacturing and transport of goods by other companies. It might also include emissions from waste disposal and employee travel.

Q. How accurate is carbon foot printing?
A. The accuracy of the carbon footprint relies on correct data being provided. Where data is incomplete, it may be necessary to make some estimates or extrapolations based on other known factors. For example, for transport emissions it may be necessary to estimate the total fuel consumption based on the mileage of the vehicles and fuel economy assumptions. Whilst there is scientific agreement on the quantity of emissions associated with most activities, there is still debate around whether the carbon and other climate change emissions from airplanes may be higher than previously thought, due to the effects of radioactive forcing.

Q. What is the Climate Change Bill and will companies be obligated to calculate their carbon footprints?
A. The Climate Change Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference Bill is the world’s first national statutory framework for reducing CO2 emissions. It will come into effect in 2010 and will have implications for every business and household in the UK by setting limits on the amount of greenhouse gases they can emit. In particular, the Carbon Reduction Commitment will cover large businesses and public sector organisations whose emissions are not already included in the EU ETS or Climate Change Agreements. Those in breach of their limit will be required to buy carbon credits through an emissions trading scheme (ETS). It therefore makes good business sense for companies to start measuring and reducing their carbon impacts in anticipation of the Bill in 2010.

Q. Is carbon offsetting a valid part of managing carbon emissions?
A. Organisations should only consider offsetting as an integral part of their carbon management programme. There are two important issues around carbon offsetting. One relates to where it features in a carbon management plan – it can play a valid role in organisations that have followed a strict hierarchy of carbon avoidance, then reduction, then replacement. Secondly, the quality of carbon offset investment schemes is variable. Your choice of an offset scheme and provider should be carefully investigated. Many offset schemes are unable to provide a guarantee that the investment will result in the actual amount of CO2 being offset.

Q. Should we aim to become carbon neutral?
A. There is much debate around carbon neutrality. Many organisations and NGOs protest against companies claiming to be carbon neutral as it implies that they have zero impact on climate change. In reality, neutrality status is achieved through financial investment in an offsetting scheme; regardless of whether the organisation has taken steps to reduce its impact through implementing behavioural and efficiency measures. A major concern relates to the affordability of carbon offsets; that it actually takes more time, resources and financial investment to implement a carbon reduction scheme than simply offsetting it; although the former is obviously more valid.

Q. Is tree planting a good choice of carbon offsetting?
A. Whilst tree planting is a hugely popular choice for many companies, it is cheap, tangible and provides opportunities to directly involve employees and other stakeholders, there are a number of issues to be aware of. There is ongoing scientific debate about how much trees actually offset carbon emissions (if anything at all); whether trees will be managed for the required time to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, and whether tree planting is truly additional to something that would have happened anyway; although this latter argument could be applied to any carbon offsetting project.