Scope 3 Emissions Reporting

 
 
Ariel view of factory with emissions rising from chimneys

Changes are being made to reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, to provide more accurate calculations.

 

 

 

 

Greenhouse gas emissions are categorised into three 'Scopes':

  • Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
  • Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat and steam
  • Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain

(Source: Carbon Trust)

Background
For several years, the UKUPC consortia have been providing their membership with annual Scope 3 emissions reports for monitoring and reporting purposes. The reports are issued following a process of collecting and analysing the non-pay spend of members then further breaking the spend down into Proc HE level 2 categories.
 
Each Proc HE code is mapped to the DEFRA categories for which conversion factors are available to establish the emission levels.
 
The UKUPC, HEPA and EAUC have been coordinating with DEFRA and academics who work to establish the conversion factors used in the calculations to update the HESCET tool utilised in the production of the member reports. This tool is now formally owned by HEPA and as such we can now control and update the information used in the calculations.
 
 
What has changed?
The conversion factors in the tool have not been updated since 2009. During this time materials, methods of production and in some cases logistical methods of delivery have changed drastically. Updated factors take these changes into account.
 
Originally 75 Categories were established by DEFRA to breakdown and map spend levels to in the calculation process. The number of categories has now increased to 311 meaning a higher level of accuracy and detail in the calculations. 
 
As part of the process the logistical chain of each category is analysed and in previous versions a basic geographical breakdown of UK, EU or Rest of the World was used for this evaluation. For updated conversion factors an increased number of zones has been used delivering a higher level of accuracy in calculation of emissions in the supply chain for each category. 
 
These changes will overall improve the accuracy of the report and the information provided but may inevitably result in some cases of large differences in figures when compared to previous years.
 
For further information on year-on-year changes to conversion factors these are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
 
 
How our reporting is affected
The UKUPC, HEPA and EAUC have been coordinating with DEFRA and academics who work to establish the conversion factors used in the calculations to update the HESCET tool utilised in the production of the member reports.  We have confirmed with HESA that they will be extending the deadline for the return by 2 months this year till mid-April at least. The reports produced by NEUPC will include the collation of emissions into the 10 categories required in the HESA EMR return and reports will be sent to members Heads of Procurement at the start of February.
 
For further information on Scope3 Emissions reporting – please contact Andy Hughes, NEUPC Deputy Head of Operational Procurement.