Measure, manage, reduce and report on emissions

This guide enables organisations to:

• commit to measure, manage and report on their greenhouse gas emissions
• set legally binding and enforceable emissions-reduction targets
• consider and comply with reporting and disclosure requirements, especially on scope 3 emissions
• commit to a plan to transition their business to align with Paris Agreement goals.

Choose the appropriate documents

This guide is for any organisation. The example wording in this guide is written for a board resolution of a company but it can be just as easily used in corporate constitutional documents and by organisations that are not companies. It can be more difficult to amend constitutional documents, but including climate wording in them will have more impact. It will be harder to remove and will affect corporate governance frameworks and directors’ duties.

Commit to measure, manage and report on emissions at board level

Ideally, an organisation will measure:

• its own greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 and 2)
• emissions from its value chain (scope 3).

Agree a reporting standard or a common supplier to calculate the company’s emissions. Domestic law might mandate a reporting standard. Where there is no legal requirement, use internationally recognised standards (for example, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard).

Measuring, managing and reporting on emissions should be approved by the board or most senior leadership team with ultimate responsibility for overseeing operations. Read our guide Factor climate considerations into board decisions.

Set emissions-reduction targets and timeframe

Ideally, the emissions-reduction targets will:

• define the scope of emissions covered by the target. Best practice is to set targets relating to an organisation’s own emissions (scope 1 and 2) and emissions from its value chain (scope 3) as classified by The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
• include short- (annual) and medium-term (2 to 5 years) interim targets
• be validated by the Science Based Targets initiative or other international standard
• align with the Paris Agreement goals and latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings.

To affirm commitment to decarbonisation, organisations could also:

• align their emissions-reduction targets with another internationally recognised standard for setting targets
• join the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change’s Race to Zero campaign.

Develop a transition plan

See Deliver a climate transition plan guide.

Publish decarbonisation objectives and report on progress

See Publish an annual progress report section of our Deliver a climate transition plan guide.

Related guides

Guide

Factor climate considerations into board decisions

Ensure the board makes decisions that support rather than undermine its transition plan

Guide

Deliver a climate transition plan

Use contracts to implement your organisation's transition plan

Guide

Introduce climate provisions to contract parties

Create the right conditions for using contracts to reduce emissions from the very beginning

Guide

Request climate information in due diligence questionnaires

Assess the climate performance of other organisations and how they will impact your transition plan