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Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions meaning
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What does Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions mean?
In legal practice, “scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions” describes how a party’s greenhouse gas footprint is categorised for reporting, disclosure and contractual obligations (for example, sustainability‑linked finance, procurement and due diligence). The categories derive from the Greenhouse Gas protocol Corporate Standard and are not generally defined in UK or Irish primary legislation, though they are widely referenced in regulatory guidance (including SECR guidance, TCFD/ISSB‑aligned disclosures and, for Irish in‑scope groups, the EU CSRD).
Scope 1 Emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company, such as on‑site fuel combustion, process emissions, company vehicles and fugitive refrigerant losses.
Scope 2 Emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of purchased or acquired energy—typically electricity, steam, heat or cooling—consumed by the company or supplier.
Scope 3 Emissions are all other indirect value‑chain emissions (upstream and downstream) not included in Scope 2, such as those associated with purchased goods and services, capital goods, transport and distribution, business travel, employee commuting, waste disposal, leased assets, investments, and the use and end‑of‑life treatment of sold products, including emissions linked to water supply and wastewater treatment.
Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Contracts should...
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View the related News about Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions
NEWS
Environmental litigation roundup 2024: UK Supreme Court on Scope 3 emissions and sewerage nuisance; judicial review on adaptation, principles and sludge; Green Deal finance; ECtHR KlimaSeniorinnen; Dutch Shell appeal
2024 has seen lively action in the courts for environmental law, with two prominent Supreme Court judgments and further momentum in climate change litigation. We outline these headline cases, alongside other matters of note, in this. For wider coverage of environmental law in 2024 and what to anticipate in 2025, see News Analysis: Environmental law developments—end of year review 2024. Climate change—application and enforcement of domestic climate obligations, including human rights (NAP3 challenge) In R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2024] EWHC 2707 (Admin), the High Court examined a judicial review challenge to the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) under the Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA 2008). The court rejected the claim, holding that NAP3 is lawful. It concluded that the Secretary of State made no legal error when interpreting the requirement for ‘objectives’ in CCA 2008, s 58(1)(a), confirming that such objectives may vary in their level of specificity and need not be...
19 December
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View the related Practice Notes about Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions
PRACTICE NOTES
Post‑Brexit comparison of EU and UK ETS: frameworks, scope, allocation, MRV, pricing and market stability, with CBAM, ETS II, aviation/maritime and 2024–26 reforms
Following the close of the Brexit transition period (IP completion day) on 31 December 2020, the UK stopped participating in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). The EU ETS is designed to reduce the overall volume of specified greenhouse gases (GHG) released by factories, power stations and other covered installations, by operating an allowance market within a cap-and-trade framework. For further information on the EU ETS and carbon trading, see the following Practice Notes: EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Phase IV—Directive 2003/87/EC EU Emissions trading system—outline EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for aviation EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for maritime transport EU Emissions Trading System (ETS II) for buildings, road transport, and additional sectors Carbon markets—basic principles and future developments Carbon markets—carbon trading agreements Carbon markets—price of Carbon Carbon markets—international emissions trading schemes Before Brexit, the EU ETS was given effect in the UK by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012, SI 2012/3038, which...
21 May
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