Emergent ’s Post

What are scope 3 emissions, and why are they so important? A company’s carbon footprint can be organized into three categories: scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. 1️⃣ Scope 1 emissions are emitted directly from a company’s operations, from sources they control or own, like company cars or a furnace in an office.  2️⃣ Scope 2 emissions are indirect, and come from the purchased energy, such as electricity or cooling. 3️⃣ Scope 3 emissions are the biggest piece of the carbon puzzle. They cover all other indirect emissions from a company’s value chain, like business travel, waste disposal, and outsourced manufacturing. These emissions often make up the largest share of a company’s carbon footprint, yet they are the most challenging to track and reduce. Since they originate outside a company’s direct control—spanning complex supply chains, sometimes with thousands of vendors—their impact is vast but difficult to manage. As a result, corporate scope 3 emissions are not being reduced at the pace or scale needed to deliver global net zero emissions. Many companies are behind on their decarbonization plans: research by MSCI found that the gap between scope 3 emissions and targets is 1.4 gigatons of CO2e today (roughly equivalent to Japan’s annual emissions in 2022) and expected to grow to 7 gigatons CO2e by 2030 (approximately twice that of the European Union). That’s why VCMI is developing guidance to help companies close the scope 3 emissions gap by working on direct emissions reductions alongside using high-quality carbon credits to address what they cannot yet reduce. 🔗 Stay tuned for more on how companies and governments can take #Scope3Action with integrity. Sign up for our launch webinar on https://lnkd.in/eXPAXxUx #climateaction #carboncredits #VCM #VCMs #carbonmarkets #scope3 #sustainablebusiness #netzero