How To Measure And Report On Your Company’s Carbon Emissions
Key Insights:
Companies of all sizes must measure carbon emissions across three scopes, with transportation (15% of global emissions) representing a significant opportunity for reduction through electric vehicle adoption.
Scope 3 emissions typically constitute the largest portion of a company's carbon footprint and include employee commuting, which can be effectively reduced through electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.
EV salary sacrifice schemes offer a measurable way to reduce carbon emissions while providing employees with 20-50% savings on the cost of a car.
The concept of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) was first introduced in the 2006 United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Report, which mandated its integration into financial evaluations of companies.
Today, reporting on carbon emissions has become a central focus for businesses of all sizes, not just for regulatory compliance but as a strategic cornerstone that affects reputation, investor relations and long-term sustainability. As stakeholders increasingly want transparency around environmental impact, companies must adopt robust methods to measure, report, and ultimately reduce their carbon footprint.
Let’s explore how you can measure and report your company's carbon emissions, with a particular focus on EV salary sacrifice schemes and how The Electric Car Scheme can help companies achieve this goal.
Why Do Carbon Emissions Matter?
The impact of global temperature increases includes rising sea levels and disrupted weather patterns, which threaten the safety and livelihoods of communities and habitats worldwide. Smaller businesses, which are estimated to contribute 50% of all UK business-driven emissions according to research by the British Business Bank, must begin the transition towards net zero. Reducing carbon emissions not only helps combat climate change but also appeals to customers.
This Statista chart shows global greenhouse gas emissions by sector in 2023, revealing that energy-related activities account for 68% of emissions, with power generation (26%) and transport (15%) being major contributors. Global emissions reached a record 57.1 Gt CO₂e in 2023, increasing 1.3% from 2022. The data highlights key sectors where reduction efforts are needed, with transport representing a significant opportunity for impact through electric vehicle adoption.
This growing environmental consciousness has catalysed significant developments in corporate responsibility frameworks. In 2020, ESG reporting gained substantial momentum when the World Economic Forum, International Business Council, and the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and Ernst & Young) developed standardised measurements for 22 specific metrics within a framework. These metrics focus on four key areas: principles of governance (led by Deloitte), planet (led by PwC), people (led by KPMG), and prosperity (led by Ernst & Young). The framework also incorporates Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising the importance of building societal impact metrics that align closely with these four pillars.
Given these developments, it is now crucial for companies of all sizes to report on their emissions as a concrete step towards achieving net zero targets. This awareness of a company's environmental impact serves as the foundation for implementing positive changes to effectively reduce carbon emissions across operations.
How To Measure Your Company’s Carbon Emissions
The first step in measuring your company’s carbon emissions is to calculate its carbon footprint, which includes the total greenhouse gas emissions from business operations. This involves assessing emissions from various activities, like electricity usage and product transportation.
Establishing a baseline, typically using data from the previous year, is essential for tracking progress. Once you have your emissions data, you can work on reducing your company’s greenhouse gas emissions by investing in renewable energy, adopting more efficient transportation methods (such as electric vehicles), and minimising waste production.
The Three Scopes
Businesses categorise emissions into three scopes. This is to help understand their carbon footprint and identify areas for reduction.
Scope 1
Emissions created by your organisation through actions like heating systems and fuelling company vehicles.
Scope 2
Indirect emissions caused by your company, like energy bought by external sources.
Scope 3
Indirect emissions that happen due to your business activity, like the transportation of office supplies or employees travelling to and from work. This is typically the biggest category for businesses.
Are Company Cars Scope 1 Or 2?
Company cars fall under different scopes depending on who owns the vehicles and how they're operated. Company-owned or leased vehicles your business controls are classified as Scope 1 (direct emissions) since you're directly responsible for fuel combustion.
However, employee-owned vehicles used for business purposes, including salary sacrifice schemes where employees lease the cars, typically fall under Scope 3 (indirect emissions) as these emissions are not directly under company ownership. Electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes can help reduce these Scope 3 emissions significantly, offering businesses an effective way to lower their carbon footprint while providing valuable employee benefits.
Calculating Scope 1 And Scope 2 Carbon Emissions
To calculate scopes 1 and 2, you will need to gather records of energy consumption over the course of a year. This typically includes utility records for water, electricity, and gas, as well as plane and train tickets or fuel for company vehicles. You’ll then need to convert the records into compatible units:
Gas and electricity: Measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) on utility bills.
Water: Measured in cubic meters, listed on utility bills.
Car travel: Measured in kilometres. If distances aren't tracked, sum fuel receipts and use a fuel calculator.
Rail or boat travel: Measured in passenger kilometres (pkm). For example, two employees on a 1,000-mile round trip equal 2,000 pkm.
Air travel: Measured in pkm, similar to rail or boat travel.
The Carbon Trust’s SME Carbon Footprint Calculator is a helpful tool to use to convert the records.
To calculate the GHG emissions associated with each activity you need to do the following calculation: Data x Emission Factor = GHG. You can then add the total GHG emission from each activity to reveal your company’s carbon footprint.
How To Calculate Your Company’s Scope 3 Carbon Footprint
Calculating Scope 3 emissions can be challenging, yet they often constitute the majority of emissions. Scope 3 emissions typically stem from activities involving assets not directly owned or controlled by the reporting organization but still influenced indirectly within its value chain.
Businesses have options to use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol calculation guidance. This includes information not included in Scope 3 Standard, like:
Methods for calculating GHG emissions for each of the 15 categories (like purchased goods and services, transportation and distribution and use of sold products),
Guidance on selecting the correct calculation methods,
Examples to demonstrate each calculation method.
Alternatively, many companies enlist environmental consultants to calculate Scope 3 emissions.
Identify Opportunities To Reduce Your Carbon Emissions
Reducing carbon emissions involves enhancing processes or adopting new technologies to lower emissions, especially for smaller businesses lacking existing infrastructure. Examples include:
Improving Your Energy Efficiency
This hinges on your office setup and the flexibility to make changes, such as with lighting. However, you do have control over the equipment you use.
Switching To Renewable Energy Sources
This can be anything from solar to wind energy!
Improving Transportation
This means fuel-efficient vehicles, encouraging carpooling, and promoting remote work. Implementing The Electric Car Scheme at your company can support these efforts by encouraging the transition to electric vehicles for a larger portion of your workforce.
Implementing And Measuring Changes
Once you have completed your GHG emission reporting, highlighted areas of improvement and implemented changes, you need to track progress over time. You can do this by comparing your emission data from one year to the next, which will help to identify where your emissions have increased and make subsequent changes.
Getting Employees On Board
Scope 3 covers various aspects of your company, with employees being a key factor. To significantly reduce your company’s carbon emissions, your employees must be committed to climate action.
Here are a couple of ways to raise awareness of their carbon footprint:
Educate them on the current climate crisis,
Encourage employees to take action,
Offer incentives or a company-wide incentive - like The Electric Car Scheme.
Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme
Carbon emissions-based vehicle schemes help organisations reduce their transportation carbon footprint by transitioning to low or zero-emission vehicles, particularly electric cars. Electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes have become a popular benefit, allowing employees to lease EVs through pre-tax salary deductions while helping companies meet sustainability targets.
Unlike vague green initiatives, these programs deliver real, countable results. The Electric Car Scheme takes this a step further by showing you exactly how much carbon you're saving when employees choose electric cars. You'll get straightforward reports showing your emissions reductions, which you can use in your sustainability reporting without the usual headaches of collecting and verifying data. This makes it simple to show investors, customers, and employees the actual environmental progress you're making, rather than just making promises about future goals.
How Does The Electric Car Scheme Improve My Company’s Carbon Footprint?
Every person can make a significant impact in lowering carbon emissions. Switching to an electric car is one of the biggest steps you can take as an individual to reduce your carbon footprint.
By offering The Electric Car Scheme as an employee benefit, you can help everyone at your company make the choice to accelerate the transition to net zero. The Electric Car Scheme provides a comprehensive solution with competitive pricing, risk protection, and detailed emissions reporting. This enables businesses to accurately measure their emissions reductions for ESG reporting while offering employees 20-50% savings on electric cars - creating a dual benefit of environmental progress and valuable employee perks. The more employees who adopt The Electric Car Scheme, the bigger impact this will have on your company’s carbon footprint!
Why does The Electric Car Scheme exist?
A direct quote from Thom Groot, CEO & Co-founder of The Electric Car Scheme, summarises this perfectly:
“Cars typically spend around 12 years on the road, covering approximately 120,000 miles in their lifetime. At The Electric Car Scheme, our focus is not on existing vehicles but on shaping the impact of new cars entering the market. Our significant influence lies in steering consumers towards opting for a new Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) instead of a traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) car.
By addressing key barriers, particularly affordability, The Electric Car Scheme facilitates a smoother transition for customers to electric vehicles, fostering an increase in demand for new electric cars. This shift in consumer preference triggers a positive cycle, driving infrastructure and manufacturing investments, subsequently accelerating innovation and uptake rates.”
Reasons to implement The Electric Car Scheme at your company
There are many positives to implementing The Electric Car Scheme at your company, here are a couple of the key reasons:
Complete Risk Protection
Last year, at The Electric Car Scheme, we conducted a study that revealed that 83% of companies plan to offer an electric car salary sacrifice scheme. However, there were some misconceptions and concerns about the cost and risk to the businesses implementing these schemes.
At The Electric Car Scheme, we offer Complete Risk Protection to ensure employers are protected from day one. If an employer has to make redundancies or dismiss an employee, they can do this at any time without facing a fee. It also protects the employer from any shortfall due to employee resignation, long-term sickness, or family-friendly leave.
Make Your Team Feel Rewarded
By offering this benefit you can support your team’s personal journey to Net Zero and directly reduce your company’s carbon emissions. They will have the opportunity to save between 20-50% on the cost of their car through salary sacrifice.
Cost-neutral Benefit
With no setup or running costs, The Electric Car Scheme’s fee is equivalent to your employee's tax savings, so you can roll out the scheme at no cost to your business!
Best Prices Available
You will access the top leasing companies to ensure the best prices are available. The best prices are required to get good employee take-up. Ask us to compare prices on any car for you.
Happy Employees, Healthy Company
Employee happiness is at the heart of a healthy, thriving company. With The Electric Car Scheme, you can show your commitment to sustainability. Your employees will appreciate the opportunity to make a positive impact.
Straight-forward Reporting
It’s easy to keep your HR, Finance and Tax affairs on track. The Electric Car Scheme’s automated monthly payroll, HMRC and climate reporting help you with compliance and minimise hassle.
We also produce an annual impact report that summarises key metrics, including the number of employees enrolled in the scheme, those who have requested car quotes, cars ordered and delivered, total committed mileage, kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent saved, and the Scope 3 carbon dioxide equivalent reduction achieved by participating in the scheme.
The Electric Car Scheme Is A B Corp!
In January 2024, we were proud to have been certified as a B Corp, which acknowledges our commitment to being a force for good in the world of work. But what does that actually mean? B Corps are businesses that live the highest social and environmental standards for people and the planet. To be certified as a B Corp means that we are held accountable by a recognised network and that we stay focused on our mission to help people transition to electric cars.
To become a certified B Corp, businesses must score 80 points or more. We're proud to say that we've surpassed this benchmark with a score of 104.3. But we're not stopping there – our goal is to achieve an even higher score in the future. You can learn more about our B Corp Certification here.
What Other Green Initiatives Will Help Improve My Company’s GHG Emissions?
Green initiatives encompass a wide range of practices aimed at reducing a company's carbon footprint while promoting sustainability. Some examples of green initiatives include:
Recycling in the workplace: Efforts to maximise workplace recycling can significantly reduce carbon emissions and demonstrate commitment to environmental protection.
Going paperless: Implementing a paperless workflow helps save trees, cut costs, and reduce energy consumption from printing equipment.
Hybrid working schemes for staff: Implementing hybrid working can improve work-life balance and reduce the carbon footprint by reducing commuting.
You can read more about this in our blog: How are your employee benefits?
Measuring and reporting on your company's carbon emissions is no longer just an environmental consideration - it's becoming a business imperative. As stakeholders, investors, and customers increasingly prioritize sustainability, having clear visibility of your carbon footprint across all three scopes provides the foundation for meaningful reduction strategies.
Electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes like The Electric Car Scheme offer an effective dual-purpose solution: they provide a valuable employee benefit while measurably reducing your company's Scope 3 emissions. With detailed emissions reporting, Complete Risk Protection, and a cost-neutral implementation model, such schemes represent a practical step toward your sustainability goals.
By empowering employees to make environmentally conscious transportation choices through affordable access to electric vehicles, your organisation can demonstrate tangible progress toward net-zero targets. As the transition to sustainable business practices accelerates, companies that proactively measure, report, and reduce their carbon emissions will be better positioned to thrive in an increasingly climate-conscious marketplace.
Ready to explore how an electric car salary sacrifice scheme can help reduce your company's carbon emissions? Visit our quote tool to see how The Electric Car Scheme can benefit both your business and your employees, or get in touch with our team to learn more about implementing a successful carbon reduction strategy through electric vehicle adoption.
Last updated: 21.03.25
