Identify your emissions causing activities

The first step in the cycle is to identify all of the activities your business does that produce greenhouse gas emissions, across all categories of activity identified by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol throughout your value chain (from raw material to end of life), including the emissions and removals associated with the land your business owns and/or manages.

We also help you identify the positive contributions your business makes to the wider effort to tackle climate change.

22 categories of emissions

We start by considering 22 different categories of activities that may produce greenhouse gas emissions or removals. It is unlikely that your business will be doing all of these, so we need to understand which ones are significant in your business.

6 categories of positive contributions

We also identify all the positive contributions your business makes to the wider effort to tackle climate change. We call this your Carbon Handprint.

Does it need to be this complex?

We appreciate that this sounds complicated, but we have simplified the process by creating a unique structured questionnaire, which we guide you through in your kick-off meeting, designed to rapidly identify all your emission and contributions and the data you already have about those activities. We always try to start by working with the data you already have.

It also gets easier as we go along. In subsequent years we just need to identify:

• What has changed in your business that might affect the calculation?
• Can we make any improvements to accuracy by collecting more or new data?

Do you use a recognised standard?

Yes, we adhere to The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. this is the most widely used standard in the world and ensures consistency. We also use the GHG Corporate Value Chain Standard to provide a full Scope 3 analysis. If you are considering another approach please do check whether it will provide a full Scope 3 analysis, or you may miss the lion's share of your footprint. If you would like to know more, our explanation of terms contains a description of Scopes 1, 2 and 3.

"We wanted to get a true, clear understanding of our carbon footprint" 

- Sue Williams, Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa