Carbon Boundary & Emissions Ledger Simulator: Understanding Corporate Carbon Footprint Accounting

What is a Carbon Boundary?

A carbon boundary defines the scope within which a company accounts for its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This can include all operations under the company’s direct control, or it may extend to indirect emissions from supply chains and other stakeholders.

The choice of boundary significantly impacts reported emissions and thus informs corporate climate strategies.

Emissions Scopes

Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the reporting entity.

Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain but are not captured under Scopes 1 and 2.

Organizational Boundaries

Equity share boundaries focus on the ownership structure, where only emissions from companies directly owned by the reporting entity are counted.

Operational control boundaries include all emissions within a company’s operational scope, regardless of ownership structure. Financial control boundaries may also be used to account for emissions in which the company has significant influence.

Decarbonization Pathways

Companies can choose from different decarbonization pathways based on their ambition level and regulatory requirements.

A 1.5°C pathway aligns with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, while a well-below-2°C pathway represents an even more ambitious target.

Frequently asked questions

Try it live

Everything above runs in your browser — open Carbon Boundary & Emissions Ledger Simulator and change the parameters while it is running. Nothing is installed, nothing is uploaded, the whole model lives in one tab.