Psst…Carbon Accounting is not 100% Accurate
In this article we’re letting the cat out of the bag and admitting to anyone who wants to read it that carbon accounting is not 100% accurate. But think about it for a minute, how can it be when every little thing has a carbon footprint associated with it? There are essentially two flaws with carbon accounting. Here, we talk about what they are and why we take a pragmatic approach.
Before we get into it (and yes, we know we’ve said this before) you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Working out your company’s carbon footprint is arguably the best way to identify areas for carbon reduction, over and above applying common sense. So whilst there are still areas for improvement in the calculations, working out your business’s carbon emissions is still a very powerful tool for reduction, since the devil is often in the detail.
Flaw number one: we don’t count everything
Let’s take the example of an activity holiday. We would normally calculate:
travel - flight, car, train, transfers
accommodation - per person per night based on hotel electricity consumption and occupancy
food - based on whether each meal is high, medium or low meat, vegetarian or vegan
activities - including travel to & from the activity and any guide’s footprint too
We measure these things because these are the elements that have the greatest carbon cost. The list of what we don’t measure can sound endless, but actually, even if we added all the carbon emissions associated with these things together, it would hardly amount to anything.
We measure the elements with the highest proportion of carbon emissions.
We don’t (yet) measure the carbon emissions of things like:
your transfer from home to the airport
in-flight meals or entertainment
hotel toiletries or minibar items
snacks
equipment used for activities (parachutes, canoes, bikes, paddleboards etc)
sun cream
inflatable unicorns
pina coladas
We don't measure the carbon footprint of your pina colada
Flaw number two: we sometimes use estimates
We sometimes have to rely on estimates where we don’t have enough information to make an accurate calculation. Following the example of a trip, if a hotel doesn’t provide us with data telling us the carbon footprint per guest or room per night, we rely on national industry averages based on a 4 or 5-star hotel.
This raises another point. If we use estimates we OVERestimate. A 5-star hotel typically has a higher carbon footprint than a 2 star hotel, so this is the data we would use. That way, when we do get the correct data, the carbon footprint tends to go down rather than up (which is better for all concerned). It also encourages businesses to provide us with the most accurate data. If they don’t, their estimated carbon emissions are likely to look higher than their actuals.
Finally, the estimates we do use are getting better, as more and more companies are starting to measure, the more data available.
Why don’t we measure EVERYTHING?
If we did count the carbon emissions of everything, it would take forever and it’s clear that we don’t have that much time. As Barack Obama said “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” Climate change is upon us today and is only predicted to worsen if we don’t keep the temperature rise below 1.5°C.
We know we can spend our time much more effectively working with businesses to help them identify areas to reduce their carbon emissions, based on a combination of accurate calculations and by using relevant (over)estimates.
It is a balance though, the more detail we can get on your company's business footprint, the smarter we can be when it comes to reduction strategies.
And that’s the crux of it. Counting emissions (in a pragmatic way) is important so we know we are working in the right direction, but action is crucial.
The future of carbon accounting
The future is bright, the future is…more accurate. That’s right. The more we learn and the more elements that are built into carbon audits, the more accurate the picture. At ecollective, we follow GHG Protocol guidance and believe that our framework is currently one of the most thorough. We also constantly review our methodology, applying carbon conversion factor updates as soon as they become available.
For help calculating your business’s carbon footprint and identifying areas for reduction, drop us a line.
