Wednesday 24 January 2024

What method should you use for carbon accounting?

There may soon be legal requirements for organisations to report their carbon emissions in standardised ways. Here, we examine carbon accounting reports and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most widely used methodologies at present.

What is carbon accounting?

Carbon accounting is the process of quantifying the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by an organisation’s activities. It’s also sometimes known as greenhouse gas accounting.

Calculating an organisation’s emissions (or carbon footprint) involves reporting on the Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. These are defined by the GHG Protocol (GHGP).

What principles apply to carbon accounting?

Just as your organisation’s financial accounts provide a ‘faithful, true and fair’ account of your business performance, your carbon accounts should do the same for your carbon or GHG emissions.

Read more on carbon accounting and how it could benefit your organisation.