Carbon jargon explained
It’s hard to keep up with all the different words people use to talk about sustainability. Here’s our guide to what they all mean:
Carbon Footprint
Nothing to do with feet, this is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organisation, service, place or product. It is communicated as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e).
Carbon Neutral
“I have done a high-level guess of my scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions and have bought offsets yearly to cover those emissions.” (note: scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions are usually less than 30% of a company’s overall footprint).
Carbon Negative
"I want to do better than just be carbon neutral so I will spend a little more on some more offsets"
Climate Positive
"I want to do better than just be carbon neutral so I will spend a little more on some more offsets"
Carbon Positive
No idea, it must be a typo, you probably mean carbon negative or climate positive. But who knows? You may just want to shout about what a big footprint you have.
Zero Carbon
You have no carbon footprint whatsoever. If you think you have done this we will buy you several drinks in the hope of uncovering your secret.
Net Zero
This is where it gets tricky, because there is no universal agreement of this term.
The IPCC says:
“Net Zero is achieved when anthropogenic (human created) emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period.”
Meanwhile the Science Based Targets initiative says Net Zero is when:
"We report on all our GHG emissions, try to reduce them as much as possible, and then—we invest in projects that either prevent emissions elsewhere or pull carbon out of the air to reach a “net-zero” balance on paper."
☝️This second definition is the one you should be aiming for.
Carbon Offsets
An offset is generated by an activity that either prevents the release of, reduces, or removes GHG emissions from the atmosphere.” There are 2 types:
Carbon Avoidance
These are traditional offset projects that pay others not to pollute. For example, you can invest in cookstoves to prevent more destruction of forests (this is what most people do).
Carbon Removal
A form of carbon offset. To get to zero carbon it’s not enough to avoid emissions, we need to remove the GHG emissions in the atmosphere.
There are two paths:
“natural” solutions that sequester carbon, such as trees
new technologies like direct air capture.
We need both, but the second option is expensive and small-scale today. Companies can and are playing a crucial role in changing that.
Greenwashing
Activities by a company or an organisation that are intended to make people think that it is concerned about the environment, even if its real business actually harms the environment. Check out this article for more information.
Scope 1
These are emissions from all the fuel that the company pays for. Ie. The petrol in your company car or the diesel generator at your site will all be Scope 1.
Scope 2
All the emissions from the electricity you pay for at your premises. Receive an electricity bill at your office? It’s in your Scope 2 emissions.
Scope 3
Everything else that forms part of your company emissions. These are often things you cannot control but can influence (also known as ‘indirect’). They usually form 70-95% of a company’s carbon footprint.
For example, if you work from home your electricity emissions produced by this are in Scope 3 as you personally pay for it, rather than the company. Website emissions, business travel, the whole supply chain (we could go on) are all Scope 3. For most businesses, this is by far the biggest section of their footprint.
Embedded Carbon
(also known as embodied carbon). This is all the CO2 emitted in producing the materials used in a product (not just the emissions caused by the product’s production or use).
In the case of a car, the embedded carbon includes the emissions produced during the extraction of the metal and rubber that it’s made of and the energy used in the factory that builds it. The embedded carbon doesn’t include the CO2 produced by driving it.
Carbon Legacy
The emissions a company has made in its entire lifespan. Google has paid to offset its entire carbon legacy.
Some other labels to look out for:
Plastic neutral
You produce a hefty amount of plastic and offset it by paying for recycling projects elsewhere in the world (like carbon offsetting but with plastic).
Water positive
You create more water than you use. This is more relevant for companies that are located in places where water supply is scarce. Microsoft, Facebook and Google have all pledged to become water positive (the Silicon Valley won’t know what’s hit it).
Side note: read about how Pepsi is draining a Mexican valley.
Thoughts, comments, questions? Just get in touch.