Complexity in measuring the higher education institution scope 3 emissions.

Nayak, Amarnath A.

Abstract

The first step in addressing climate change is to measure carbon emissions derived from greenhouse gases (GHGs). The greenhouse gas protocol is widely accepted and implemented by organisations worldwide. This protocol categorises carbon emissions into three scopes: scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3. Reporting of scope 1 and scope 2 emissions has become more streamlined, and many organisations report them consistently year after year, making it mandatory. However, the methodology for reporting scope 3 emissions is often ambiguous, with undefined boundary conditions and the potential for double counting. These factors make the calculation of scope 3 emissions more complicated. Reporting of scope 3 emissions is voluntary for organisations. Research has shown that scope 3 emissions, which account for indirect emissions including those from the supply chain, employee commuting, business travel, and waste disposal, can contribute up to 65% of an organisation's carbon footprint. By not reporting scope 3 emissions, organisations are significantly underreporting their overall emissions. To achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, it is crucial to accurately record, measure and estimate scope 3 emissions. This study focuses on Scottish higher education institutes as a case study to better understand the complexities involved in measuring scope 3 emissions. It delves into each complexity and develops methods to mitigate and streamline the estimation methodology. This thesis employs correlation analysis, normalisation techniques, peer comparison, and benchmarking methods to gain insights from the data. The results section reveals that the majority of higher education institutes only report emissions related to grid transmission and distribution, water supply and treatment, recycling, and waste disposal. These sources represent a small portion, contributing only 11% of total scope 3 emissions. As a result of selective reporting, eight out of seventeen HEIs have reported scope 3 emissions that account for less than 20% of their total emissions. Travel-related emissions and procurement emissions together constitute the major portion (89%) of scope 3 emissions. However, there is little evidence to suggest that higher education institutes are actively estimating these emissions. As an example, the scope 3 emissions of Robert Gordon University were calculated in this study, revealing that the calculated emissions were six times higher than what was initially reported. The Robert Gordon University did not report significant components of scope 3 emissions, such as procurement, international student travel, and staff-student commute, which were included in the revised calculations. This thesis has introduced a novel benchmarking methodology for scope 3 reporting, aiming to enhance the reporting structure and promote the adoption of best practices. The benchmarking score ranges from 0 (representing the worst performance) to 1 (representing the best performance). Higher education institutes are evaluated based on the quality of their reporting, including factors such as completeness, consistency, inclusions, and accuracy. Among the higher education institutes, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Edinburgh emerged as the top performers, receiving benchmarking scores of 0.47 and 0.27 respectively. On the other hand, the University of the West of Scotland, Queen Margaret University and Abertay University were identified as the lowest performers. By implementing the best practices in scope 3 estimation, the reporting performance score of Robert Gordon University was determined to be 0.57. Lastly, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emissions recording was evaluated. It was observed that several institutes did not exhibit sufficient reduction in emissions during the COVID-impacted years, suggesting potential issues with data recording or energy wastage despite minimal operations.

Citation

NAYAK, A.A. 2023. Complexity in measuring the higher education institution scope 3 emissions. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2271448

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2271448
• Keywords: Carbon emissions; Emissions reporting; Higher education institutions (HEIs)
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2271448
• Award Date: Feb 28, 2023