ESG & Investing
The Accounting Flaw at the Heart of ‘Financed Emissions’
With so many players disclosing the same emissions, the system is inherently duplicative — in both directions.
Photographer: NurPhoto
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A frequent critique of carbon accounting is that Scope 3 emissions, those that arise from a company’s customers and supply chains, are essentially double-counted.
Since one company’s Scope 3 emissions are comprised of other companies’ Scope 1 emissions, which are those that occur from sources controlled or owned by an organization, by definition Scope 3 accounting involves multiple actors counting the same emissions.