Your company’s emission intensity tells you how many kilograms of CO₂e (greenhouse gases) you emit per unit of revenue (e.g., per dollar).
Introduction
What is emission intensity, and why does it matter?
Your company’s emission intensity tells you how many kilograms of CO₂e (greenhouse gases) you emit per unit of revenue (e.g., per dollar). This metric is helpful for both you and your customers:
- You can use it to track how efficiently your company operates in terms of carbon emissions.
- Your customers can use it to compare suppliers and see which ones have greener operations.
Key Questions Answered
- What does my company’s emission intensity mean?
- It’s the total emissions your company produces—across all scopes—divided by your revenue for the same reporting period.
- This ratio (e.g., kg CO₂e / $1 revenue) indicates how “carbon-efficient” your operations are relative to the value you generate.
- How is it calculated?
- Emitwise takes your total corporate carbon footprint (including Scopes 1, 2, and Scope 3 upstream) and divides it by your revenue for that reporting year.
- Make sure the revenue figure you enter is accurate and covers the same 12-month period as your emissions data.
- What if my emission intensity is lower or higher than someone else’s?
- Lower intensity typically means your company emits fewer kilograms of CO₂e for each dollar of revenue, suggesting you have relatively greener operations.
- Higher intensity suggests there’s room for improvement, possibly indicating larger energy consumption or gaps in supply chain emissions management.
- How will my customers use this information?
- Many companies must track Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services.
- They look at your emission intensity to estimate how your products or services impact their carbon footprint.
- If your intensity is higher than average, customers might discuss emission-reduction strategies with you or consider alternative suppliers.
- How representative is emission intensity for diverse goods or services?
- The more heterogeneous or diverse your company’s goods and services are, the less representative your emission intensity will be for any specific product or service.
- For companies selling a wide range of products, it’s best practice to move to the next level: calculating a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) for each product. This approach provides higher accuracy and better represents the emissions of individual products compared to a company-level emission intensity.
Conclusion
Your emission intensity is a key performance indicator for carbon efficiency. By understanding—and potentially lowering—this ratio, you stand out as a more sustainable choice to customers. However, for companies with diverse product lines, emission intensity may not fully reflect the emissions of individual products. To achieve more precise insights, consider calculating Product Carbon Footprints.
For more details on improving your carbon metrics, check out our guides on calculating a full Corporate Carbon Footprint or uploading existing CCF data.