How to Calculate a Business Carbon Footprint: A Practical Guide

Calculating a business carbon footprint involves measuring all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from your company’s operations, from energy used in the office to hidden impacts like employee commuting and supplier deliveries. Accurately accounting for these emissions is essential for understanding your environmental footprint and making progress toward climate goals.

Understanding business carbon footprints

A business carbon footprint is usually divided into scopes, following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company, such as company vehicles or on-site fuel use.
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heating, or cooling.
• Scope 3: Other indirect emissions from your value chain, including commuting, business travel, purchased goods, and waste.

How to calculate a business carbon footprint

Here’s a step-by-step approach for how to calculate a business carbon footprint:

• Gather activity data: Collect data on all energy use (electricity, gas, fuel), travel, deliveries, waste, and supply chain purchases.
• Select emission factors: Use established emissions factors from authorities like the UK Government, US EPA, or GHG Protocol for each activity.
• Calculate emissions: Multiply your activity data by the relevant emission factors (e.g., kWh of electricity × kg CO2 per kWh).
• Add up scopes: Tally up emissions for each scope. Scope 1 and 2 are the easiest; Scope 3 is often the largest but the hardest to track.

Why Scope 3 matters

Scope 3 emissions can account for over 70% of a company’s total carbon footprint, yet are often overlooked because they're harder to measure. This includes upstream activities (like raw material extraction) and downstream effects (such as product use and disposal). Tackling Scope 3 emissions requires collaboration with suppliers, staff, and customers, but has the biggest potential for impact.

Best tools and frameworks

Many businesses use structured frameworks and third-party tools to guide their calculations:

• Carbon calculators like Evertreen's can help startups and SMEs estimate their emissions quickly.
• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides internationally accepted standards.
• Software offerings from companies like Sphera, Watershed, or Normative streamline footprint tracking, especially for larger companies or complex supply chains.
• Organizations aiming for ambitious goals may pursue certification via initiatives such as SBTi, or report under schemes like CDP, CSRD, or TCFD.

Comparison of common carbon footprint elements

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between Scopes 1, 2 and 3?

Scope 1 covers direct company emissions; Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased energy; Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions across your value chain.

How accurate does my carbon footprint calculation need to be?

It depends on your goals. For reporting or sustainability targets, aim for best available data and standard methodologies. For early steps, estimates are acceptable—but refine accuracy over time.

Is measuring Scope 3 emissions mandatory?

It depends on regulation and size—many large companies in the EU are required to report Scope 3 under CSRD. For smaller companies, it’s considered best practice, especially for science based targets.

How can Evertreen help?

Evertreen provides tools to help businesses estimate carbon footprints and support restoration projects for a nature-based climate contribution, tracked online.

Find guidance and tools for business climate action at Evertreen’s CO2 Calculator and the About page.