What Are Scope 1, 2, And 3 Emissions?

Written By Teacher: Emily Rogers

Emily has a bachelor’s degree in English and French and a master’s degree in library and information science. She spent seven years teaching information evaluation and research skills as a school librarian in K-8 public schools. As a lifelong resident of Southern Louisiana, Emily has a particular interest in how climate change affects coastal regions. She hopes to connect educators with resources that will help them to teach their students about the disproportionately adverse effects of climate change on historically marginalized communities.

Many students are familiar with personal actions like turning off lights to save energy, but understanding how businesses and industries track and reduce their emissions requires a deeper look at systems thinking. Ask students to consider how companies set emissions targets and discuss why it isn’t always straightforward. Understanding scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions will help students see how many companies' operations include hidden emissions. Scope 3 emissions may seem somewhat removed from the company’s operations, but these hidden emission sources are equally important. Consider teaching this greenwashing lesson which asks students to investigate products to determine whether the companies that produce them deliberately mislead their customers about the impact the product has on the environment.

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

Scopes 1, 2 and 3 are ways of classifying climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. When companies and other organizations make plans to control their climate pollution, many start by sorting their activities into these three categories. And because this system is used so widely, understanding it can help all of us read these climate plans clearly and judge how thorough and ambitious they are.

The three scopes and what they cover

Scope 1 emissions are greenhouse gases a company puts into the atmosphere with its own property. For instance, when a company burns oil or gas to heat its buildings, these heating fuels create greenhouse gases. Those emissions belong in scope 1.

Scope 2 emissions come from electricity the company buys from the electric grid. These are “indirect” emissions that happen at distant power plants. Still, as with scope 1 emissions, the company is clearly and solely responsible for them: if it used less electricity, there would be less demand for coal, gas and other climate-polluting energy sources.

Scope 3 emissions include all other indirect sources of greenhouse gases from the company’s operations. These might be connected with the day-to-day running of the company: for instance, if a company’s employees drive to work, the gasoline they burn falls under scope 3. They might be connected to materials and supplies the company buys, like when a car company buys steel: manufacturing that steel creates some greenhouse gases. Or the emissions might come from finished products, like when a car company sells a car, which someone then fills with gas, creating more scope 3 emissions.