Carbon Footprint
What is a Carbon Footprint?
A carbon footprint is a calculation of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly by a person, organisation, event, or product.
There are six key greenhouse gases emitted by human activities that contribute to global warming, but to make things easier we measure everything in relation to CO2 because it is the most common.
Everything we do leaves a carbon footprint, from the cars we drive, the food we consume, or the clothes we wear.
One way to gain a quantifiable understanding of the impacts of our actions, for good and bad, is through what is known as a carbon footprint. But while the concept is gaining traction – Googling “How do I reduce my carbon footprint?” yields almost thirty million responses – it is not always fully understood.
Personal Carbon Footprint
The average carbon footprint per person in the UK, per year, is 12.7 tonnes CO2e, which is around double the global average. To put that into perspective, you would need to drive 23,000 miles in the average car to emit 12.7 tonnes of CO2e (that is once around the world).
To limit climate change and remain within the IPCCs target of 1.5C warming, it is estimated these emissions need to be reduced to around 2.3 tonnes CO2e per year.
Calculating our carbon footprint, enables us to understand the measures we can take to reduce our footprint.
There are a number of free resources online that show how to calculate your carbon footprint. One useful resource is Carbon Footprints carbon calculator. By combining the various aspects of your life, from energy used in the household, transport to spending habits, it provides an overview of your carbon footprint and where you emit the most carbon in your life.
Business Carbon Footprint
Within a few short years, knowing your organisations’ carbon footprint has gone from a niche ‘nice to have’ to a common occurrence in business. Large UK companies and larger energy users have had to report on their carbon emissions by law for over 10 years. Many organisations are making carbon a key part of their procurement process.
Measuring Carbon Footprint
When it comes to measuring your carbon footprint, data collection is the trickiest part of the process. It requires you to obtain data for every component of your business’s carbon-releasing activity. A bottom-up approach is frequently applied to carbon footprint calculations to manage emissions and evaluate carbon policies. By considering individual contributors separately and progressing from lower-level stakeholder towards high level management, more accurate calculations can be made.
Reducing Carbon Footprint
Once you’ve collected the data, it is a case of analysing what you can and cannot reduce. Factors including:
- Energy usage
- Transportation and logistics
- Supply chain choices
- Product design
- Employee and facility practices.
Where your focus lies will differ depending on the size, sector, and industry your business is in.
Reducing or offsetting emissions
In some sectors, technologies exist that can bring emissions to zero.
By using Renewable energy, electricity generation can be reduced. Basing industrial processes on renewable energy rather than gas can help bring emissions to zero.
In some industries, such as aviation, agriculture, or manufacturing the switch to clean energy is harder. The emissions are unlikely to become zero. Therefore, emissions from these sectors will need to be offset, with equivalent CO2 being removed from the atmosphere.
Why companies should reduce their carbon footprint
Economic cost of not acting
In the UK, the Climate Change Committee estimates that delivering net-zero will cost 1% of UK GDP, with the investment delivering £90 billion a year in economic benefits. The costs of not acting are much higher, with reports suggesting that the global economy could be 7-10% smaller in 2050 because of climate costs.
Effective Climate Action
We have entered an era where companies big and small are making public environmental commitments. Alongside those commitments, you’ll have heard the terms carbon neutral, net-zero, and climate positive a lot. Your company might be tempted to jump on the climate commitment bandwagon. The key step before making commitments or inadvertently greenwashing is to measure your emissions.
When it comes to sustainability, measurement and tracking help break large, complex sustainability goals into smaller, manageable steps. You will also be able to identify strategies and interim goals to support those big ambitions.
Scope 1,2,3 Emissions
Emissions use a classification system.
Scope 1 Emissions
These are the emissions from sources you own and control and are therefore directly responsible for. For most businesses, this will be any gas heating or fuel oil you burn on-site, and the fuel you use in your company vehicles. If you use industrial refrigeration or air conditioning, refrigerant losses would also be included here, along with any emissions that may be released directly during a manufacturing process.
Scope 2 Emissions
These are the emissions you indirectly produce through the energy you purchase, which for many businesses is solely electricity. By using electricity, you are indirectly responsible for the greenhouse gases generated at source by the energy producer.
Scope 3 Emissions
These are any other emissions you are indirectly responsible for from sources outside your direct control, e.g., the goods and services you purchase, the distribution and use of your own goods and services by customers, the disposal of your waste, employee commuting or business travel.
A carbon audit is key to begin to start tackling your emissions.
Reducing Scope 3 Emissions
Scope 3 emissions are the largest part of overall emissions. For manufactured products, typically 60-80% of the total emissions will be Scope 3.
Scope 3 Emissions are also the most difficult to track because they occur across a company’s entire value chain. This includes suppliers, distributors, and end-users, which makes data fragmented, indirect, and often out of the company’s control. Whereas with Scope 1 and 2, a company will normally have the source data needed to convert direct purchases of gas and electricity into a value in tonnes of GHGs.
The challenges in achieving net zero value chains
There are five key challenges to achieving net-zero value chains for businesses:
- A lack of carbon accounting foundations
- Over Reliance on secondary data for Scope 3 emissions
- Uncertainty over cost and technical feasibility of carbon-reduction levers
- Lack of industry-wide collaboration to address sources of emissions
- The need for sustained engagement by internal and external stakeholders
Tackling Scope 3 Emissions
One of the difficulties in evaluating Scope 3 emissions is that companies use different methodologies and data sources which reduces comparability.
Addressing the data gap in supplier-emissions tracking will requires collaboration between multiple players in the value chain.
There are improvements in this area, the Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) was launched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
This is a global initiative designed to enable the exchange of product-level carbon emissions data across entire value chains. It helps companies track and share verified Scope 3 emissions using primary data, rather than relying on industry averages, making carbon accounting more accurate and actionable. The Pathfinder Framework provides consistent guidelines for calculating emissions and fosters collaboration among businesses, tech providers, and standard-setting bodies to accelerate decarbonisation.
Forging alliances is such a pivotal element in achieving sustainability and decarbonisation.
Measuring the carbon footprint of a business and its extended value chain is a necessity for most organisations. Those that succeed, will provide their business with a safer future and new value in a world with limited resources.
The Benefits of decarbonisation
Reducing a company’s carbon footprint unlocks strategic opportunities and delivers tangible business value. It lowers energy and resource costs, boosts operational efficiency, and enhances brand reputation with increasingly eco-conscious consumers.
Regulatory compliance becomes easier, and companies may gain access to green funding or preferred supplier status. It also builds resilience against climate-related risks and fosters innovation through sustainable practices.
Employees tend to engage more when companies reflect values they support, which improves retention. Importantly, tackling emissions – especially Scope 3 – helps strengthen partnerships across the value chain, setting businesses up for long-term success in a low-carbon economy.
Cala Sustain can help you to Scope your 1,2,3 Emissions
We are experts at delivering carbon reduction programmes. We are helping the Ministry of Defence (MoD) achieve its Net Zero commitments.
Cala Sustain will help you to quantify, analyse and report your carbon footprint, whether that is direct emissions (Scope 1) or indirect emissions (Scope 2 &3). We help you navigate the complexity of emission accounting, helping to reveal emissions drivers, emissions by facility or region and year-on-year trends.
We will work with you, providing guidance on your carbon accounting and reporting by:
- Helping to define the scope of reporting
- Reviewing your processes, controls and data
- Providing recommendations on best practice in monitoring and reporting
- Providing independent assurance over your carbon reporting and disclosure in your Annual Report
- Assisting you with creating a strong reporting and communication strategy
