How to accurately measure your business’ carbon footprint

Understanding your carbon footprint is the first and most important step to managing it. By accurately measuring your business’s greenhouse gas emissions, you can identify carbon ‘hotspots,’ set data-driven reduction targets, and report your progress to customers, partners, and regulators.

And with growing pressure from larger organisations for their suppliers to disclose emissions data, measurement has never been more essential.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Understand your reporting requirements 

Before you start collecting data, clarify why you’re measuring your emissions.

Many businesses begin carbon reporting to meet customer, investor, or regulatory expectations. Each may have different requirements, for example, some buyers may ask that your inventories align with the GHG Protocol, widely recognised global framework for carbon accounting.

Understanding what’s expected from the start helps you choose the right tools and methods for your calculations.

Step 2: Choose how you'll calculate your carbon emissions 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to measuring emissions. The right method depends on your resources, data availability, and reporting goals. Common options include:

• Online calculation tools: From basic Excel sheets to advanced software, like Cogo’s Carbon Manager, digital tools can automate calculations, streamline data collection, and generate reports that align with global standard. There's a tool out there for every need and budget, but, remember that each tool comes with its own calculation methodology. So, before committing to one, you need to make sure it aligns with your reporting requirements.
• Consultancy services: Sustainability consultants can provide in-depth analysis and tailored advice, though this often comes with a hefty price tag.‍
• Manual calculation: A more traditional approach that involves linking your business activity data to emission factors yourself, but warning it’s time-consuming and prone to human error.

Step 3: Organise your data

To calculate your footprint, you’ll need to gather activity data from across your operations. Emissions are grouped into three key ‘scopes’:

• Scope 1 emissions are direct releases of greenhouse gases from your business’s activities, like fuel consumption from company-owned vehicles. 
• Scope 2 encompasses emissions from the energy your business purchases and consumes. 
• Scope 3 covers emissions that are not produced by the company’s immediate operations, but by activities it is indirectly responsible for in its value chain. 

While reporting on Scopes 1 and 2 is often the minimum expectation, Scope 3 typically represents the majority of a business’s emissions, and is increasingly required by major buyers and regulators.

‍Get up to speed on scope 3 emissions in this blog. 

Step 4: Select your calculation method 

There are two main methods for calculating emissions: spend-based and activity-based. Each method has different levels of complexity, accuracy and suitability. Beginners may find the spend-based approach, which uses financial data, a good place to start. But for greater accuracy and compliance with emissions data, it is recommended that businesses supplement with activity data.

For example, if you purchased a desk for your office, the spend-based approach would only factor in that you bought a piece of furniture, and wouldn't consider whether the desk is made of plastic or wood. Whereas, the activity-based method would collect data on how many units of material that you purchased. So it would give a more accurate reading of how many emissions are associated with the action.

Cogo's Carbon Manager combines both spend-based and activity-based data for precision and scalability, helping businesses at any stage of their sustainability journey.

Step 5: Collect your data

Your data collection approach will depend on your calculation method and available information. Even if your data isn’t perfect, it’s better to start somewhere, early estimates can still uncover major opportunities for improvement.

Where to find business data:

• Spend-based data can be sourced from your accounting records or bank statements.
• Physical activity data is usually found in supplier invoices or through facility managers. 

Step 6: The calculation process 

Once your data is ready, calculating emissions typically involves:

1. Linking each activity to the correct emission factor (a value that converts activity data into CO₂e).
2. Multiplying activity data by these factors to estimate emissions.
3. Expressing your results in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) — a standardised unit that combines the impact of all greenhouse gases into one comparable number.

You can do this manually, but automation will save significant time and ensure consistency.

Introducing Cogo’s Carbon Manager 

Cogo’s Carbon Manager empowers businesses to measure, understand, reduce, and report their carbon footprint, all in one place.

Our platform combines spend-based and activity-based data to deliver accurate, GHG-aligned calculations, helping you meet stakeholder expectations, uncover reduction opportunities, and track progress over time.