Why Nobody Measures the Scope 4 (Avoided) Emissions? Let’s Get It Started!

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a formal definition and quantification method for Scope 4, opening a new research avenue in carbon accounting and climate disclosure.

🏢実務担当者:Offers a practical framework to measure and communicate avoided emissions from products/services, enhancing ESG reporting and stakeholder engagement.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights the need for Scope 4-based policies and incentives, urging regulators to incorporate avoided emissions into climate frameworks like the Omnibus Package.

As the urgency of climate action intensifies, organizations are increasingly required not only to reduce their instantaneous internal emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) and their value chain impacts (Scope 3), but also to demonstrate their overall contribution to climate change. Therefore, this paper introduces and formalizes the concept of Scope 4 emissions, defined as avoided emissions enabled by a company’s products, services, or business models, representing the fourth strategic pillar in corporate climate accounting. The paper proposes how to quantify the Scope 4 emissions through the decarbonization plan, using a stadium decarbonization plan as an illustrative example to show how Scope 1–3 reductions can be complemented by cumulative Scope 4 impacts, the advantages of undertaking proactive approaches toward sustainability and proposing the concept of relative carbon neutrality. Finally, the paper connects the Scope 4 emissions with ESG factors, highlights possible risks and challenges associated with its computation, and inviting regulators and policy makers to devise new Scope 4-based policies and incentives needed when considering the directives’ dynamics (e.g., the Omnibus Package).