5 Mistakes to Avoid
To help strengthen your GHG reporting approach and process even further, it’s important to learn from the mistakes of others. The following are 5 common mistakes our sustainability experts say you should avoid:
1. Starting too late
One common mistake is thinking you can collect all the necessary data in a short amount of time. Collecting information on all your Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions must be a team effort, as this information should be gathered from several different areas of the organization. Your Finance Team, for example, will have information on business travel costs throughout the year, while Human Resources may have knowledge of what mode of transport employees are using to get to work every day. Collecting this data from different sources will take time, especially if the proper processes have not been set up.
It will take several weeks to gather all this information, so starting a month in advance of your submission deadline will lead to failure. Avoid this common mistake and start early by collecting all the necessary data months in advance of your submission date.
2. Collecting inaccurate data
Another pitfall to avoid is collecting inaccurate data. For instance, it’s incorrect to use values like industry benchmarks or company turnover instead of those which represent your organization’s true activity data. Moreover, sometimes organizations who haven’t given themselves enough time (mistake #1), make assumptions about certain values. Remember when we said be transparent? The worst thing you could do is make up values, as you will not have the evidence or calculations to prove them to an external auditor.
As we previously stated, it’s also important to make sure you are using the most up to date emissions factors and assumptions. Having the wrong values can also lead to inaccurate data and an inaccurate GHG report, so double check these values before starting your calculations.
Finally, ask different team members to check your data and calculations. Certain data sets can be plagued by human error, so having a second or even third pair of eyes on your equations is something you must consider.
3. Not following a specific framework
Some companies try to complete their GHG report without following a specific framework. Remember when we discussed frameworks like the TCFD, SECR, and SEC to name a few? It’s important you pick the framework you should adhere to, based on your organization’s regional location.
Not following one of these frameworks is a mistake because your investors will not get an accurate or standardised view of your emissions according to specific regional guidelines. It also makes it very difficult for both you and your investors to track your progress or emissions trends over time, as you may be following different frameworks each time you complete your reports.
4. Having a lack of understanding of company structure
At times, key stakeholders who are responsible for completing GHG reports do not fully understand the company structure. This can lead to the mistake of forgetting certain sites or facilities in other countries, for instance. This will lead to an incomplete picture of your organizations’ emissions.
You must know exactly where all your operations lie and exactly what you want to measure in each site. Make sure to set these goals before you start collecting your data, so you know what information you should gather. This is where the sustainability or health and safety team can help to establish the necessary Scope 1, 2, and 3 data that should be included from each site.
5. Only measuring carbon dioxide emissions
As we stated earlier, there are several greenhouse gases which account for the rise in temperature of the atmosphere. Though carbon dioxide does account for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, don’t limit yourself to just measuring emissions from this one gas. Several other gases need to be accounted for to truly get an accurate view of your carbon equivalent (CO₂e).
Let’s look at methane (CH₄) for example. Though this gas doesn’t last in the atmosphere long, it does a better job at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. In fact, methane has an impact which is 29.8 times greater on the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas, can remain in the atmosphere for over 100 years with a heating effect which is 273 times greater than carbon dioxide. This is why it’s important to take into account emissions of all greenhouse gases to get a true picture of your company’s sustainability profile.