Hi Bob,
From the GHG protocol, basically Scope 3 does include emissions from other entities, so there will be double, triple, or even higher counting of the same emissions. I am not an expert on this, but my understanding is that if everyone zeroed out their Scope 1 we’d be in a roughly carbon neutral world. But someone’s Scope 1 is someone else’s Scope 2 or 3, so multiple counting occurs frequently. For instance, purchased energy for a company is Scope 2. The same emissions are also Scope 1 for the power plant owner, and part of Scope 3 for a company that uses the first company’s services.
The goal of the GHG Protocol as I see it is to understand for a single company how directly related they are to their wide range of emissions.
And if the net is cast wide enough then embodied carbon and perhaps energy use of our buildings would be considered Scope 3 for design teams…any other thoughts from the group on that?
Thanks,
Kjell