28/10/2022
Climate change is one of the biggest environmental issues in the world today which is caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted to the atmosphere. These emissions result from many different sources such as energy production, transportation, agriculture and industry. While there are regulations for the most polluting industries, the remaining industries take voluntary actions in reporting and reducing their GHG emissions.
When reporting, the GHG emissions of a company can be divided into three scopes, Scope 1, the direct emissions, Scope 2, indirect emissions caused by energy purchases of the company and Scope 3, indirect emissions from upstream or downstream activities in the value chain that are not directly controlled by the company. Scope 3 includes emissions that result from the production of purchased goods or raw materials, from upstream transportation of raw materials, from distribution as well as from the use and end-of-life treatment of the product.
For most reporting standards Scope 1 and Scope 2 is obligatory, whereas Scope 3 is optional. The reason for this is since they are not directly controlled by the company, it might be difficult to get accurate information and also to reduce these emissions.
However, in many cases it is deceptive to include only Scope 1 and 2 emissions. If we take the fashion industry as an example, we can see that for fashion brands which do not have their own production facilities or for retailers, the majority of the emissions are in Scope 3 considering that the most significant emissions are associated with raw material supply, fiber and yarn production and fabric dying and finishing. Especially synthetics, which are based on petroleum products, are normally the most carbon intensive products which makes it crucial to include these emissions even if they are in Scope 3.
Consequently, in the fashion industry supplier engagement is key. When purchasing raw materials, brands should demand their suppliers to share their emissions information and select the ones with the least emissions. They should also support innovative materials which decrease emissions.
For downstream emissions that result from use, consumers should be educated on how to reduce their emissions such as washing their clothes at lower temperatures and not more often than necessary and for emissions that result from end-of-life, recycling should be encouraged.
As a result, if fashion brands do not include Scope 3 in their emissions reports, the results can seem falsely low so when comparing different companies reports, it is essential to check which scopes are included.
(Image taken from GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard)
Note: With Fairbrics technology, the emissions from the production of the most widely used material for fabrics, polyester, are reduced drastically.
