The concept of scopes defines which emissions will be included in the GHG inventory. The selection of the scopes is crucial and depends on the objective pursued in the GHG inventory (organisation's environmental policy, regulatory requirements, carbon vulnerability, etc.), but also on the resources the company has available to conduct its GHG inventory and to implement the resulting actions.
Whether or not to include all entities related to its structure (subsidiaries, facilities spread over other sites, activities for which the structure is responsible, etc.).
Business operations differ in their legal and organisational frameworks, encompassing fully owned entities, incorporated and non-incorporated joint ventures, subsidiaries, and more. For financial accounting purposes, these entities are treated according to specific rules that vary based on the organisational structure and the relationships between the involved parties. When determining organisational boundaries, a company chooses a method for consolidating GHG emissions and consistently applies this method to identify the businesses and operations that are included in the company's GHG emissions accounting and reporting.
Whether or not to include all emissions generated by the activity, whether direct or indirect. Outside the regulatory framework, the choice of scopes is at the discretion of the company.
Once a company has established its organisational boundaries regarding the operations it owns or controls, it defines its operational boundaries. This process involves identifying emissions related to its operations, classifying these emissions as direct or indirect, and determining the scope for accounting and reporting indirect emissions.
Tracking emissions over time
Companies frequently experience major structural transformations such as acquisitions, divestments, and mergers. Such changes can modify a company's historical emission profile, complicating the ability to make meaningful comparisons over time. To ensure consistent comparisons historical emission data must be recalculated.
Over an observed duration - generally 1 year - allows for the collection of data/figures of GHG emissions on which the GHG inventory is based.
