Scope 4 Emissions: A Comprehensive Guide to Avoided Emissions, Climate Accounting, Life-Cycle Assessment, and the Risks of Greenwashing
C limate accounting traditionally focuses on the greenhouse gases associated with a company’s operations and value chain. This is essential: organizations need to measure the emissions they generate directly, the emissions associated with purchased energy, and the emissions connected to their suppliers, products, and other business activities. Yet this approach does not, by itself, fully describe the potential climate benefits of products and services that help other organizations or consumers reduce their emissions. Consider a manufacturer that produces energy-efficient industrial motors. The manufacturing process generates greenhouse gas emissions, and those emissions belong in the company’s conventional carbon accounting. Once installed, however, the motors may consume less electricity than conventional alternatives. Depending on how the electricity is generated, that reduction in consumption may prevent additional emissions from occurring. The manufacturer therefore has two distinc...
