Glossary›Emissions accounting and measurement
Glossary cluster
Cluster D
49 terms
Emissions accounting and measurement
About this cluster
From the head term carbon accounting down to individual Scope 3 categories and the mechanics of factors, boundaries and data quality. The largest cluster in the glossary, with each entry explaining the measurement choice and the evidence that has to sit behind it.
Terms in this cluster (49)
D1 · Tier 1
Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources an organisation owns or controls.
D2 · Tier 1
Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from generating the electricity, steam, heating or cooling an organisation purchases and consumes.
D3 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Scope 3 emissions are all indirect greenhouse gas emissions in an organisation’s value chain that are not Scope 2.
D4 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The location-based method measures Scope 2 emissions using the average emissions intensity of the grid where the electricity was consumed.
D5 · Tier 1
The GHG Protocol divides Scope 3 into fifteen categories, eight upstream and seven downstream, so that value chain emissions are classified consistently and no activity is counted twice.
D6 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Scope 3 materiality screening is the structured first pass across all fifteen categories that determines which are material enough to measure in detail.
D7 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The organisational boundary defines which entities, facilities and operations sit inside an organisation’s greenhouse gas inventory.
D8 · Tier 2
Under the operational control approach an organisation accounts for 100 per cent of the emissions from operations over which it has the authority to introduce and implement operating policies.
D9 · Tier 2
Under the equity share approach an organisation accounts for emissions from each operation in proportion to its equity interest in it.
D10 · Tier 2
Under the financial control approach an organisation accounts for 100 per cent of the emissions from operations over which it has financial control, meaning it can direct the financial and operating policies with a view to gaining…
D11 · Tier 1
Activity data is the measured quantity of an activity that causes greenhouse gas emissions: litres of diesel, kilowatt hours of electricity, kilometres travelled, tonnes of material processed, nights of accommodation.
D12 · Tier 1
An emission factor is the published coefficient that converts a quantity of activity data into a quantity of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent.
D13 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The National Greenhouse Accounts Factors are the Australian Government’s published emission factors for fuels, electricity by state and territory, waste and other common activities, updated annually by the Department of Climate Change,…
D14 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The activity-based method calculates emissions from physical quantities, such as litres of fuel or tonnes of steel, multiplied by a factor per unit.
D15 · Tier 1 · differentiator
A data quality hierarchy ranks the sources behind an emissions figure from strongest to weakest, so the entity and its assurer can see where confidence is high and where it is not.
D16 · Tier 1
Primary data is obtained directly from activities within the entity’s own value chain, such as a supplier’s own measured figure or the entity’s own meter readings.
D17 · Tier 1 · differentiator
A proxy stands in for data the entity cannot obtain, by applying a known relationship from a comparable source.
D18 · Tier 1
A base year is the reference period against which emissions performance is measured and targets are set.
D19 · Tier 1 · differentiator
A base year recalculation policy is the written rule stating when historical emissions will be restated and by how much a change must move the figure before restatement is triggered.
D20 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, revised edition 2004, is the international standard for measuring an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
D21 · Tier 1
Carbon dioxide equivalent is the common unit that expresses the warming effect of every greenhouse gas as the equivalent quantity of carbon dioxide, using global warming potential values.
D22 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Global warming potential is the factor that converts a quantity of a greenhouse gas into its carbon dioxide equivalent, based on its warming effect relative to carbon dioxide over a defined period, conventionally 100 years.
D23 · Tier 2
ISO 14064-1 is the international standard specifying requirements for designing, developing and reporting an organisation’s greenhouse gas inventory.
D24 · Tier 1
An emissions intensity metric expresses emissions as a ratio to a business measure: tonnes of CO2-e per million dollars of revenue, per square metre, per unit produced or per employee.
D25 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Carbon accounting is the systematic measurement, calculation and reporting of an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions over a defined period.
D26 · Tier 1
A greenhouse gas inventory is the complete compiled record of an organisation’s emissions for a reporting period, structured by scope and by source.
D27 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Measurement derives an emissions figure from a recorded physical quantity, such as metered electricity or invoiced fuel volume.
D28 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The inventory boundary defines which entities and emission sources are inside a greenhouse gas inventory, set under the GHG Protocol using operational control, financial control or equity share.
D29 · Tier 2
Biogenic emissions are greenhouse gases released from biological sources and materials, such as burning wood, biofuels, biogas or organic waste.
D30 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Double counting occurs when the same tonne of emissions is recorded more than once.
D31 · Tier 1
Upstream emissions arise from goods and services an organisation buys, before they reach it.
D32 · Tier 1
A value chain is the full set of activities that bring a product or service into existence and carry it through to end of life, from raw material extraction to disposal.
D33 · Tier 1 · differentiator
The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard, published in 2011, is the GHG Protocol standard for measuring indirect value chain emissions.
D34 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Carbon neutral means an organisation’s measured emissions for a period have been balanced by an equivalent quantity of purchased and cancelled carbon credits.
D35 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Abatement is a reduction in emissions an organisation actually causes, by using less energy, changing fuel, or redesigning a process.
D36 · Tier 2
An Australian Carbon Credit Unit is a tradeable financial product issued by the Clean Energy Regulator representing one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent of net abatement achieved by a registered project.
D37 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Climate Active was the Australian Government’s voluntary certification program for carbon neutral claims, administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
D38 · Tier 1
Category 1 covers the cradle-to-gate emissions of every good and service a company buys in the reporting year, except those the GHG Protocol assigns to another category.
D39 · Tier 2
Category 2 covers the cradle-to-gate emissions of capital assets a company acquires in the reporting year: buildings, plant, vehicles, IT hardware, fit-out.
D40 · Tier 2
Category 3 covers the emissions of producing and delivering the fuel and electricity a company buys, where those emissions are not already counted in Scope 1 or Scope 2.
D41 · Tier 2
Categories 4 and 9 both cover the transport and storage of goods, and they are separated by one question: who paid for it.
D42 · Tier 2
Category 6 covers the emissions of transporting employees for business purposes in vehicles the company does not own or operate: flights, hire cars, taxis and rideshare, rail, and accommodation where the company elects to include it.
D43 · Tier 2
Category 7 covers the emissions of employees travelling between home and their place of work in vehicles the company neither owns nor operates, and, where the company elects to include it, emissions from teleworking.
D44 · Tier 1
Category 11 covers the emissions generated when customers use the products a company sold during the reporting year, counted across each product’s full expected lifetime and recognised in the year of sale.
D45 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Category 15 covers the emissions of investments a company holds that are not already consolidated into its own inventory: equity stakes, joint ventures, associates, project finance positions and corporate debt holdings.
D46 · Tier 2
Financed emissions are the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to an investor or lender in proportion to its share of the money invested in a counterparty.
D47 · Tier 1 · differentiator
Supplier engagement is the structured process of obtaining emissions data directly from suppliers rather than estimating it from spend.
D48 · Tier 1 · differentiator
A Large-scale Generation Certificate is a tradeable certificate created under the Renewable Energy Target, each representing one megawatt hour of eligible renewable electricity generated by an accredited power station.
D49 · Tier 1 · differentiator
A power purchase agreement is a long-term contract to buy electricity, and usually the associated certificates, from a specified generator.
All glossary clusters
D · Emissions accounting and measurement