Carbon Accounting: Why What You Measure Matters!

Whilst the adage ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ is not necessarily true, it is important for carbon management, as with any other management activity, that information and data are collected to support reporting, decision-making and ongoing review. This chapter will introduce the concept of a company's carbon footprint and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and how greenhouse gases can be calculated, reduced, offset and disclosed. The processes leading to the compilation of the inventory and footprint must be consistent, accurate and transparent. This is necessary to enable comparisons and decision-making, and to facilitate communication with other stakeholders. Internally, decisions will relate to policies and programmes aimed at reducing GHG emissions, and externally they will guide the assessment of what is material, and who is responsible for reductions. Advice will be given on how data should be gathered for each of the scopes introduced in chapter 11. We seek to keep carbon accounting simple and adopt a step-by-step approach which provides insights to key guidance and considerations. A case study is included, along with Quick Wins and Further Resources.