Calculate Carbon Footprint Precisely with Software Support

In Germany and the European Union, certain companies are legally required to prepare a CO₂ balance sheet:

1. Energy-intensive companies: Companies participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) must report their greenhouse gas emissions. This mainly affects energy-intensive industries such as steel, cement, chemical, and energy production companies12. Companies subject to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) must also account for CO₂ values of certain purchased goods.
2. CSRD-obligated companies: All companies meeting the criteria of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) must submit a CO₂ balance sheet under the updated CSRD directive. This typically applies to companies with more than 500 employees that are of public interest (e.g. listed companies).
3. Companies preparing voluntary reports: Many companies voluntarily prepare CO₂ balance sheets to transparently demonstrate progress in CO₂ reduction or to meet investor and customer requirements.
4. Specific industry regulations: Certain industries have their own regulations or agreements on CO₂ reporting. For example, large real estate companies must collect and report specific data.

Connection to CSRD: The European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) expands and deepens sustainability reporting requirements. It applies to all large companies and all listed companies (except micro-enterprises). Companies must disclose detailed information on environmental factors, social and employee matters, human rights, anti-corruption, and particularly climate and CO₂ emissions. Reports must be prepared according to European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and verified by independent third parties. The CSRD also promotes digital reporting, improving the comparability and transparency of sustainability data, including CO₂ emissions.

The CSRD not only requires companies to prepare a CO balance sheet but also to publish it in a standardised, verifiable, and detailed format, which can contribute to better monitoring and reduction of CO₂ emissions.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions are categories for classifying a company's greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a globally recognised standard for measuring and managing greenhouse gases. Here is an overview of the individual emission categories in the three scopes:

Scope 1: Direct Emissions

Scope 1 includes all direct emissions that originate from sources within the company's boundaries and can be directly controlled by the company. These include:

• Combustion of fossil fuels in company-owned or controlled facilities, such as boilers, vehicles and production facilities.
• Process emissions from industrial processes, e.g. in the production of cement or steel.
• Fugitive emissions from sources such as leaks in refrigeration systems or from the use of chemical compounds.

Scope 2: Indirect Emissions from Energy Consumption

Scope 2 includes indirect emissions caused by the consumption of purchased energy. This includes:

• Power consumption: Emissions, that arise during the generation of the electricity that the company purchases.
• District heating and cooling: Emissions from the generation of heat or cold that the company uses but does not produce itself.

Scope 3: Other Indirect Emissions

Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur along the company's value chain, both upstream and downstream. Examples are:

• Upstream emissions: Emissions from the production and transport of purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting and waste disposal.
• Downstream emissions: Emissions from the use and disposal of products sold by the company, transport and distribution.

The recording and management of Scope 3 emissions are often more complex than for Scope 1 and 2, as they involve numerous external processes and actors.

This categorisation helps companies to better understand and manage their overall emissions by taking into account not only the direct and controllable emissions (Scope 1 and 2), but also the comprehensive indirect emissions along their value chain (Scope 3).

Carrying out climate balancing with leadity offers you numerous advantages:

1. Time and Cost Savings

• Increased efficiency: leadity speeds up the process of collecting and analysing data, which reduces the workload and makes reporting faster.
• Cost reduction: The automation and reduction of manual processes available in leadity allow you to reduce the costs of your climate accounting.

2. Accuracy and Efficiency

• Automation: leadity automates data collection and processing, which reduces human error and increases the accuracy of results.
• Data integration: You can integrate data from different sources and systems, providing a more comprehensive and accurate picture of emissions.

3. Compliance and Standardisation

• Regulatory compliance: The leadity software ensures that reporting complies with legal and regulatory requirements, such as the CSRD (ESRS) or ISO 14064.
• Standardised reporting: In addition, leadity ensures compliance with international standards and frameworks, such as the GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol), which improves the comparability and consistency of the data.

4. Sustainability Management and Decision-Making

• Analysis and reporting: With leadity, companies can create detailed reports and analyses that help them to better understand and manage their emission sources.
• Strategic planning: leadity supports you in the strategic planning and management of sustainability initiatives by identifying reduction potential and monitoring progress.
• Data visualisation: leadity offers visual representations of the emissions data that make it easier to understand and communicate the results.

5. Scalability

• Flexibility: leadity is scalable as a sustainability system and can be customised to your individual needs.
• Future-proof: The leadity software enables you to continue and expand your climate accounting with growing data volumes and changing requirements.
• Consolidation: The group function can be used to automatically consolidate CO₂ balance sheets from different locations and companies. A central platform ensures congruent data.

By using leadity for your carbon footprint, you can measure, monitor and report your greenhouse gas emissions more efficiently and effectively, helping you to both comply with legal requirements and achieve your sustainability goals.

We would be happy to show you in detail how this works.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) is a comprehensive global standard for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It was developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and serves as the basis for numerous national and international greenhouse gas inventory programmes. The GHG Protocol provides guidelines and tools for companies and governments to prepare greenhouse gas inventories and supports them in setting and achieving reduction targets.

The most important components of the GHG Protocol include:

• Corporate Standard: Guidelines for companies to prepare a comprehensive greenhouse gas balance sheet, including the categorisation of emissions into Scope 1, 2 and 3.
• Project Protocol: Framework for quantifying the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from specific projects.
• Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard: Guidelines for reporting emissions along a company's entire value chain.

ISO 14064-1

ISO 14064-1 is part of the ISO 14064 series of standards and provides an internationally recognised standard for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions at an organisational level. This standard is published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and is an important addition to the guidelines of the GHG Protocol.

Important features of ISO 14064-1 include:

• Clearly defined requirements: Specifications for the preparation of greenhouse gas balances, including the identification of emission sources, the selection of recording methods and the reporting of emissions.
• Reliability and transparency: Guidelines to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the reported data, as well as the transparency of the methods and assumptions used.
• Reporting and verification: Requirements for internal and external verification of emissions data to increase the credibility and reliability of the reports.

ISO 14064-1 is designed to help organisations systematically record and manage their greenhouse gas emissions, which contributes to the achievement of sustainability goals and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Summary

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14064-1 offer standardised approaches for measuring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions. Both standards contribute to the improvement of environmental reporting and the promotion of sustainable practices. With leadity, you fulfil both standards automatically and in close alignment.