What is the definition of Emissions Scopes 1 2 3?

To combat climate change at the company level, the imperative starting point is to measure its greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we will explain in detail what the famous scopes are, which you have heard about.

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If you are looking for more general information about the company's carbon footprint, Sami is still there for you! You just need to consult our complete guide to the carbon footprint. 

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So, what are the scopes? To measure the greenhouse gas emissions of a company, there are different methodologies (Carbon Footprint and GHG Protocol in particular), which have in common to categorize emissions into 3 perimeters, called “scopes”. The famous scopes 1, 2 and 3 of a carbon footprint.

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1. How are emissions categorized?

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In order to facilitate the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions from a company's activities, a categorization into 3 scopes exists.

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The international carbon accounting methodology GHG Protocol is at the origin of this categorization, which is taken up in the different methodologies such as the Carbon Footprint in France, the ISO14064 standard or the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) methodology internationally.
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1.1. Scopes 1, 2 and 3

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• Scope 1 = direct greenhouse gas emissions

These are greenhouse gas emissions that occur directly at the company level. Some examples: 

• emissions related to gas heating in an office or factory
• emissions related to the combustion of fuel from company-owned service vehicles
• leaks of refrigerants from an air conditioner, a fridge or a cold room

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• Scope 2: indirect emissions related to energy

These are mainly emissions related to electricity, which does not emit directly at the workplace but at the time of its production (the combustion of a gas power plant for example). 

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• Scope 3: other indirect emissions

These are all other emissions. Scope 3 is very broad by definition and generally represents the vast majority of emissions related to a company's activity. Not taking into account Scope 3 is to have a very incomplete vision of the carbon footprint of one's company.

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Some examples of “scope 3” emissions:

• purchases of goods and raw materials
• purchases of services (administrative, digital, etc)
• home-to-work travel
• the use of products or services sold

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In France, the decree of July 2022 requires a complete greenhouse gas inventory, scopes 1 to 3,  for companies with more than 500 employees and as of January 1, 2023. More information on the Mandatory GHG Inventory in our article on the subject.

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We will go into more detail on the 3 scopes in the rest of the article.

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1.2 The 23 emission subcategories

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Each Scope is divided into subcategories also called “emission posts”. The Carbon Footprint® methodology lists 23 of them, which are listed below:

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2. Scope 1: direct emissions

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Scope 1 accounts for direct emissions within the company's perimeter. The company is directly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.

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Here are the different subcategories (or “emission posts”) of Scope 1:

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To make it clearer, we have entered the results of what could be the carbon footprint of a supermarket:

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For a service company, which has neither gas heating nor company cars, Scope 1 is generally limited to leaks of refrigerants from fridges and air conditioning, which are powerful greenhouse gases. This is often little compared to the rest of the emissions generated by an activity!

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Note: emissions that occur upstream of combustion are not counted in Scope 1: only emissions that occur directly at the time of combustion are counted. 

For example, emissions related to the extraction, refining and transport of diesel burned by company cars are not counted in Scope 1 but in Scope 3 (sub-category "Energy upstream").

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3. Scope 2: indirect emissions related to energy

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Scope 2 accounts for indirect emissions related to energy consumption, whether it is electricity, heat or cold. This is a Scope by definition very reduced, with only 3 sub-categories.

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Here are the 2 sub-categories (or "emission items") of Scope 2:

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Example of a supermarket's Scope 2:

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Note: here too, the so-called “upstream” emissions of electricity production are not included in Scope 2. 

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For example, emissions related to the extraction and transport of gas burned in thermal power plants that produce electricity or even the construction of solar panels and wind turbines will not be counted in Scope 2 but in Scope 3 (sub-category “Energy upstream”). 

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Read our article dedicated to the accounting of emissions related to electricity consumption in a carbon footprint

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4. Scope 3: other indirect emissions

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Scope 3 accounts for all other indirect emissions. In short, it's “everything else”.

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It is common to divide Scope 3 emissions into “upstream” emissions (before the production of the goods or services sold) and “downstream” emissions (after the production of the goods or services sold). Here is the detail of all the sub-categories (or “emission post”) of Scope 3:

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Scope 3 emissions therefore very often represent the vast majority of emissions induced by a company's activity!

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Example of Scope 3 of a supermarket:

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How is Scope 3 calculated in a carbon footprint? Discover our article dedicated to this subject: Calculating Scope 3 in a carbon footprint, the different possible approaches.

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The challenges of categorization into 3 Scopes

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By detailing this Scope 3, we realize two things:

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1/ The limited usefulness of this categorization into 3 Scopes.

Indeed, reading the results through the lens of the 3 Scopes will often be inconclusive given the much greater weight of Scope 3 and the diversity of its subcategories.

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2/ The growing scope of Scope 3 in French law

Since 2012, a greenhouse gas inventory has been mandatory for certain companies but only took into account the emissions of Scopes 1 and 2. Although the climate law was not ambitious enough, the decree of July 2, 2022, on the other hand, made it mandatory to take into account Scope 3 in the GES inventory, which is encouraging! 

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A new categorization of Scope 3

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With the new regulatory BEGES v5 decree, Scope 3 is now itself divided into 3 categories.

It is simply a new visualization and not 3 new Scopes or additional categories to study.

They only make the reading of Scope 3 easier, but the items are the same, only the names have changed. Let's rather talk about emissions related to transport, purchased products or sold products within Scope 3.

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Focus on the subcategory “Use of products sold”

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It is interesting to focus on category 18 “Use of products sold”.

Indeed, it can often overshadow the overall carbon footprint of a company. Let's take 2 examples.

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• Total
  

We sometimes hear that Total's carbon footprint is equivalent to that of France. If the comparison seems surprising, it is because in fact this comparison takes into account the carbon footprint of Total's Scopes 1, 2 and 3, which therefore includes the use of its products, namely the combustion of all petroleum products sold!

For Total, it looks like this:

• Scopes 1 and 2: 20 Mt CO2e
• Scope 3: 292 Mt CO2e
  

Even if there are other subcategories in Scope 3 than “Use of products sold”, we can bet that the figure of 292 Mt of CO2e is almost exclusively composed of the use of the products sold.

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• Mozilla (Firefox)

Mozilla markets the famous Firefox web browser. In the case of a digital service, “Use of products sold” is generally more difficult to calculate. The question of the scope of emissions in the use of the product can prove complicated.

Mozilla has included in the use of its service the electricity consumption of all the terminals of its users when they use Firefox. This represents 98% of the total carbon footprint!

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Conclusion

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Scopes 1, 2, and 3 represent the different major categories of greenhouse gas emissions from an organization. Scope 3 generally includes the vast majority of induced emissions and therefore actions that can be implemented to act for the climate. Not taking it into account when calculating the carbon footprint of your company not only demonstrates a lack of ambition but also a failure to comply with the law, as from January 1, 2023, it will be mandatory to include Scope 3 in the GES balance sheet.

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This categorization by scopes is interesting and used worldwide by different carbon accounting methodologies. But we believe it is insufficient to clearly read the carbon footprint and easily derive concrete actions.

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That's why at Sami, in addition to reading by Scope, we offer a more natural categorization and closer to the company's activity!