An essential part of sustainability reporting under CSRD is emission calculation. Reports in accordance with CSRD must now also include Scope 3 emissions, meaning emissions from the value chain, which can be a laborious task to calculate. Mari Vuento, Workplace Specialist from the Lappeenranta office, has been delving into this topic for some time at Gofore.
Vuento was swept in emission calculation matters last year when she planned her thesis on sustainability topics for her business degree. She reached out to Gofore’s Sustainability Director Kristiina Härkönen, who helped her find a suitable topic in the realm of reporting. Gofore has been reporting its emissions since 2019, but the new reporting directive brought new requirements and challenges to their reporting. Emission calculation became both a good thesis topic for Vuento and a great opportunity for Gofore to gain her as an expert in this area, and later in CSRD-compliant emission calculation.
Mari Vuento’s thesis “Development of Emission Calculation in accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Directive, case Gofore” was completed this autumn. Vuento conducted Gofore’s emission calculation for the year 2023 and was also involved in defining double materiality at the end of 2023. Based on this work, Vuento and Härkönen developed a plan for how to meet the requirements of the sustainability reporting directive in the 2024 reporting, while Vuento learned about the contents of the directive and the standard.
– Like everything related to CSRD, emission calculation in accordance with it is something that no one in the world has done before. Additionally, the calculation of Scope 3 emissions was new, as Gofore has not previously reported or therefore calculated all emissions belonging to Scope 3, Vuento states.
Scope 3 – A best guess at times
Scope 3 is the most challenging emission category to calculate, as it includes all company purchases as well as employee commuting and waste produced by the company. This year, Gofore will implement a cost-based calculation method alongside activity-based calculations for Scope 3 emissions. The best estimate of Scope 3 emissions will be made based on data collected from sites and using generally available calculators.
– For us, Scope 3 emissions include, for example, leased equipment, snacks and drinks provided at offices, branded products, and commuting, where driving and flying are the largest emission sources, although they are still minimal for Gofore, Vuento explains.
Another significant change brought by CSRD, according to Vuento, is the greater precision regarding emissions, as there are more data points than before and the original documentation and the audit trail of the data is meticulous. Reduction targets must also be presented more broadly than before.
Based on the choices made in her double materiality work, Gofore will exclude immaterial data points related to energy, known as Scope 1 emissions, from CSRD reporting. However, there is still plenty of data to collect and calculate for Scope 2 emissions related to energy.
– The most challenging part of the process has been, for example, collecting energy data, which often comes from a long chain, e.g., office – property manager – electricity producer. One can only do their best and document carefully. The role of a pioneer is always somewhat uncertain, and it must be accepted that some things are learned the hard way, Vuento states.
Learning together
A smaller challenge for the calculation has also been brought by Creanex, a simulator manufacturer acquired in the summer of 2023, which is Gofore’s first and so far only product business. Vuento praises that the Creanex team has been very helpful, and the emission calculation has gone well.
Since the year is not yet over, most of the data collection is still ahead, but the preparation has been thorough. Vuento is part of a peer group for sustainability reporting, which includes several Finnish IT companies, and collaborative thinking has helped her move forward. Gofore’s auditing community Ernst & Young has also been helpful.
– We have had constructive discussions with EY. If neither of us can solve a particular question, we can at least find answers together, Vuento concludes.
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