We are excited to kick off our Scope 3 Event Series with our Partner, Siemens!
With our Scope 3 Event Series, we aim to address the significant challenges companies face in achieving net zero along their entire value chain (Scope 3). In this first event, we want to give a general overview of what Scope 3 emissions are, discuss the challenges in tackling them, and their importance in the bigger scheme of things to reach the global decarbonization targets.
A company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are distinguished between different categories, or so-called “scopes” – Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3. While Scope 1 emissions are caused directly by a company through its operating activities, Scope 2 emissions are generated indirectly through the purchase of electricity, for example, for cooling or heating buildings. Scope 3 emissions, on the other hand, are emissions that are not directly associated with the company but that the company is still indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. And this is where it gets tricky!
Scope 3 emissions could, for example, stem from buying products from its suppliers, from its products when customers use them or from the operations of a company’s investments and they are divided into 15 categories as laid out by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (pages 34-37).
These emissions are not only the most difficult to account for, but also the most important to tackle. In terms of emissions, Scope 3 is almost always where a company has the largest footprint. Only by reducing emissions along the entire value chain (up- and downstream), can a company truly achieve net zero emissions.
Break-out Discussions will be:
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