In brief: Guidance for tech businesses on Scope 3 calculations

Industry group Initiative Climate International and consulting firm ERM have partnered up to bring detailed guidance on how software businesses can calculate their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. The paper released this week builds on its earlier guidance for private equity firms that cut across all sectors.

This matters, because software business’s Scope 3 emissions tend to be significantly higher than their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Says the report: “Emissions associated with developing and using software are inextricably linked with those of the broader ICT sector, which is thought to consume around 4 to 6 percent of global electricity and to generate 2 to 3 percent of GHG emissions, although estimates vary significantly.”