Other influenceable emissions (OIE): beyond the value chain

By getting to grips with other influenceable emissions (OIE), you can impact emission reduction beyond your organisation and even your value chain as well. In this blog we explain why OIE are part of the new version of the CO₂ Performance Ladder, the categories of OIE, when you must report on OIE and what to pay attention to.

Anyone wishing to be certified at Step 2 or 3 of CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0 will encounter other influenceable emissions, or OIE. OIE are emissions that do not fall within scope 1, 2 or 3 but are nonetheless relevant, because you as an organisation can exert influence on them. The addition of OIE, prompts you to start thinking beyond the scopes. Together with the other three scopes, OIE give you a complete picture of where you can make impact.

OIE in the CO₂ Performance Ladder

In previous versions of the CO₂ Performance Ladder, you could report on a voluntary basis on emissions that fell outside your organisation and value chain. In version 4.0, reporting on these emissions is mandatory. There are several reasons why we have included OIE in the Ladder.

• Rewarding emissions reduction outside the scopes

In the previous versions of the Ladder, you were not rewarded for your impact outside the organisation and value chain. As a construction company renovating a building, for example, you did have to count emissions in scope 3, but you were not rewarded for the fact that providing better insulation leads to lower gas use in the building. The same applies to companies that make products that cause fewer emissions than the alternatives. Thanks to OIE, you can now be rewarded for this.

• Harnessing the impact of core activities

Another shortcoming of the previous versions of the Ladder was that core activities remained out of sight if they did not fall within the three scopes. As an advisory, design or engineering firm, you may have limited emissions in scope 3, but your actions are decisive for the scope 1, 2 or 3 emissions of other parties – for example in the construction of a road or building. Thanks to the addition of OIE, you are stimulated to make an impact in the places where your influence is greatest.

• Encouraging a different way of thinking

By qualifying and quantifying OIE, we encourage a different way of thinking. By looking not only at the hard figures of the scopes but also at emissions elsewhere, awareness of the impact of your activities grows. In the past this was sometimes a blind spot. By including OIE explicitly, we hope you will also think more about how, as an organisation, you can exert even more influence than you already did, or compared with your sector peers.

• Aligning more closely with the national and international agenda

In recent years, emissions that go beyond the scopes have received increasing attention in the media and politics, both at home and abroad. Think of policy and reporting on carbon removal, biofuels and the circular economy. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) – the accounting standard for the Ladder – is also paying increasing attention to avoided emissions. By devoting attention to OIE, the Ladder aligns better with the national and international agenda.

Other influenceable emissions: three categories

OIE can be divided into three categories: biogenic emissions, avoided emissions and CO₂ removals. The reason these groups fall outside the scopes is that they are short-cyclical (biogenic emissions), occur outside the organisation’s value chain (avoided emissions) or are negative (CO₂ removals).

Biogenic emissions

Biogenic emissions are emissions released from biomass, often when it is burned. This involves a short cycle. That means the biomass – such as trees or plants – captured CO₂ during its growth. So, combustion does cause CO₂ emissions, but on balance you add no CO₂ to the atmosphere over the long term. With fuels from fossil raw materials, such as petroleum, this is the case: it takes millions of years before the emitted CO₂ is captured again.

NB: For biogenic emissions under OIE, this concerns only CO₂, and not other greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. Biogenic emissions of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases are included in the accounting of the three other scopes.

Examples of biogenic emissions

Examples of biogenic emissions are:

• CO₂ emissions released when burning biofuel, such as biodiesel (HVO) and biogas.
• CO₂ emissions released during wastewater treatment or dredging activities
• CO₂ emissions from burning organic waste (food and garden waste) and wood pellets for heating

Avoided emissions

Avoided emissions (also known as comparative emissions) are emissions you prevent or limit at third parties thanks to your activities. This therefore concerns reduction that is the result of your actions and that you may not count within scope 1, 2 or 3.

NB: For avoided emissions you always use a reference framework. This means you make a comparison with the emissions of comparable services or products on the market, or with the situation beforehand. For example, a heat pump is a sustainable alternative to a gas boiler.

Examples of avoided emissions

There are countless examples of avoided emissions. Consider:

• The production of materials or products that cause fewer emissions for the user, such as insulation material or energy-efficient software
• The design of products that can be reused after their service life
• The design of products or structures with low energy consumption
• Advice to build with reused or recycled materials
• Advice to use products or resources with lower or no emissions
• Making land or roof surface available for generating renewable energy
• The rewetting of peat meadows by the water authority, so that peatlands do not become too dry and less CO₂ enters the atmosphere
• Municipal policy for natural-gas-free neighbourhoods, the installation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles or a low-traffic city centre
• Feeding self-generated electricity back into the grid

CO₂ removals

CO₂ removals are an important new pillar in climate policy. This concerns removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and capturing it.

NB: CO₂ removal is not the same as CO₂ compensation using carbon credits. For the CO₂ Performance Ladder you may not count carbon credits as a reduction of your emissions.

Examples of CO₂ removals

For capturing and removing CO₂, consider:

• The use of bio-based materials, such as wood or flax, as building or insulation material, with which you capture CO₂ for the long term in a structure
• Processing removed CO₂ as a component in building materials such as concrete
• The use of olivine on footpaths

OIE at Steps 2 and 3

Although you must work on OIE for both Step 2 and Step 3, the requirements differ per Step.

OIE at Step 2

For Step 2 you map OIE qualitatively. This is still an introduction. Initially you check whether, as an organisation, OIE are relevant for you at all. If so, you make clear which categories of OIE are involved. You can do this with the other influenceable emissions questionnaire. This gives you an idea of which OIE categories may be relevant to you. At recertification – which takes place every three years – you should review the OIE again.

OIE at Step 3

For Step 3 you must work on OIE fully, both qualitatively and quantitatively. This means you concretely identify which OIE categories are relevant to your organisation and what influence you can exert on them. You do this using the influence and impact analysis and the value chain analysis, and you include it in the Climate Transition Plan and – for the short term – the action plan. For each project you report on OIE via the My CO₂ Performance Ladder portal.

Points of attention for OIE

When you start working on OIE, there are a few things to bear in mind.

OIE require flexibility

OIE are a relatively new concept, which means the field is less developed than for the other scopes. This means we do not yet prescribe a precise method for how you must report on OIE. The OIE questionnaire can help you on your way, but otherwise it requires a little more flexibility than standard CO₂ accounting. At the same time, this creates room for dialogue about OIE, both within the organisation and with external parties.

OIE are not deductible from other scopes

OIE are not meant to be deducted from emissions in other scopes. OIE form a separate set of accounts alongside scope 1, 2 and 3. The goal of zero emissions by 2050 for Step 3 therefore relates specifically to the three scopes and not to OIE. It may, however, be the case that an OIE you count for your organisation, such as an avoided emission, falls within the scope 3 emissions of another party in your value chain.

Do not get too broad

With OIE you can take a broad view but make sure you think conservatively and don’t include too much. An example of this is that, when making a home more sustainable, you might also look at what, besides CO₂ reduction, it yields in terms of improved living standards, for example health and labour productivity for the residents. For the Ladder you leave these points out of consideration, and focus on the concrete climate impact.

The focus is your share and your influence

With OIE it is about the share your organisation has in the emission. If your core activity is advising or designing, what matters is what you deliver to the client – not whether the client actually implements your advice or design. Since you naturally hope your advice is implemented, such as using a sustainable material, you can enter into a conversation with your client to see how you can persuade them.

Webinar ‘Autres émissions influençables (AEI) : au-delà de la chaîne de valeur’

In the webinar (with French subtitles) below, Tijmen de Groot of SKAO explains exactly what OIE are, why they are part of CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0 and what the important points of attention are when you start working on OIE.

In the video, the speakers also answer questions from companies and organisations that attended the session. If you have questions after watching the webinar session, please contact us.

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