Our industry average carbon footprint helps businesses estimate their carbon emissions using industry data. This article explains how the industry average footprint is calculated, its significance, and how it can be used effectively.
For businesses starting their journey to net zero, understanding how your performance relates to peers is key. The industry average carbon footprint helps you quickly understand the carbon footprint that would be expected of an average business of your size, in your industry.
Find out more: Sage Carbon Accounting Methodology
How does the industry average carbon footprint work?
In the UK, industry sectors are described using the United Kingdom Standard Industrial Classification (UKSIC) codes. UKSIC is a hierarchical system, with higher levels of detail contained within broader sectors (e.g. 69.20/3 is Tax Consultancy, which comes under Section M: Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, 69: Legal and Accounting Activities, 69.2: Accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy).
Our methodology has produced Emissions Intensity Factors across each emissions scope and category (as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) for each of the 88 second-level UK SIC sectors. Your industry sector and annual revenue are entered when setting up your business in Sage Earth Carbon Accounting. The business is then assigned to one of 88 industries based on UK government SIC code data.
In combination with your business’s revenue, this produces the industry average carbon footprint.
Data Sources for the Industry Average Carbon Footprint
The industry average carbon footprint is estimated based on data sources derived from:
Over 12,500 detailed carbon footprints submitted by businesses around the world in annual CDP reports
Emissions Intensity Factors developed by Small World Consulting, using their Multi-Region Input-Output (MRIO) model.
Things to note:
Currently, only one SIC code per end user is supported. Choose the most appropriate if you have more than one. For example, if a business is an events venue/bar and also a youth hostel, these fall under SIC codes 56 and 55 respectively; the best choice is the one which most closely aligns with most of your business’ activities.
The industry average carbon footprint is a starting point and cannot be used for carbon reporting. As users connect their financial data and complete manual input modules, they build up a specific and detailed footprint based on their primary data, which can be used for reporting.
Methodology FAQs
What is the benefit of an industry average carbon footprint?
The industry average carbon footprint helps businesses understand what the average carbon footprint is for a business in their industry, giving them an idea of which areas are likely to be most important for them, and how their actual footprint measures up.
How do you estimate my industry average carbon footprint?
We use data from CDP (the global reporting hub for corporate carbon footprints), and emissions factors from Small World Consulting.
We analyse the pattern of emissions in footprints calculated by companies submitting emissions to CDP, drawing the magnitude of emissions from SWC emissions factors, and mapping to UK Standard Industrial Classification (UKSIC) sectors.
What is the CDP?
CDP is the global reporting hub for corporate carbon footprints. Almost 15,000 businesses from all around the world have measured and reported their carbon footprints in a consistent format through CDP. Each submission represents the output of months of work and emissions data is submitted in accordance with the GHG Protocol, with many reports also being externally verified.
The CDP dataset is the most comprehensive and representative record of carbon footprint data in the world, which is why we use it as the foundation for our industry average footprint calculations.
What ‘scopes’ (as defined by the GHG Protocol) are covered?
Industry average footprints cover all Scopes and Categories of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Scope 1 is not broken down into its four emissions categories, as this level of detail is not present in the source data.
How do you define industry sectors?
We use a condensed list of SIC codes, as defined by the UK Office of National Statistics. You can find a full list of SIC codes here.
What size and type of business is the industry average carbon footprint most useful for?
The footprints used to underpin the analysis are predominantly submitted by larger businesses, but the methodology ensures that the resulting industry average footprints are the best available estimate of the likely emissions from any business, of any size, in any sector.
Do you consider my business location when calculating my industry average carbon footprint?
Yes. The footprints submitted to CDP come from businesses all over the world, but the emissions factors used to generate the magnitude of the industry average footprints are specific to each country. As we gather more footprint data, we hope to be able to refine the regional basis of the footprint data as well.
My business also operates overseas, does the industry average carbon footprint account for this?
As the industry average footprints are country-specific, they are only applicable to one country. We have calculated industry average footprints for a range of countries, so if you would like to work out what the emissions are likely to be for your overseas operations, get in touch and we can let you know whether that country’s industry average footprints have been completed yet.
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