How to navigate carbon emission scopes 

The categorization into Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions helps to understand which emissions are caused by the company itself and which are caused along the value chain. The allocation to the various emission sources can be confusing at first and the calculation of a company's CO₂ emissions can be challenging, but this is the only way to achieve a meaningful climate protection strategy with ambitious reduction targets that make a real contribution to climate protection. 

Scope 1 emissions include all greenhouse gas emissions from sources for which a company is directly responsible or controlled. These include, for example, emissions from the consumption of energy sources such as natural gas and fuels at the company site as well as emissions from the company's own vehicle fleet. Reducing these direct emissions is particularly important, as companies can exert a direct influence here. More efficient technologies and processes as well as the use of renewable energies not only help to reduce the carbon footprint, but often also lead to cost savings.  

In contrast to direct emissions, the GHG Protocol defines indirect emissions as the result of a company's business activities, but which originate from sources owned or controlled by another company. These include the so-called Scope 2 and 3 emissions.  

Scope 2 emissions refer to indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the use of purchased energy, such as electricity, water vapour, district heating or cooling. These emissions are not generated directly by the company, but by the energy producers. These emissions can be reduced by using renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency. This minimizes the ecological footprint and reduces dependence on fossil fuels.

Knowing Scope 3 emissions is important in order to understand the overall impact of a product or service on the environment. Scope 3 includes all indirect emissions that occur along a company's value chain. They can account for the largest proportion of a company's greenhouse gas emissions. A distinction is made here between upstream and downstream emissions:  

Upstream emissions comprise the indirect greenhouse gas emissions within a company's value chain that are related to purchased goods and services.  

Downstream emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions within a company's value chain that are associated with the goods and services it sells.  

Collecting Scope 3 emissions on the one hand and reducing them on the other poses particular challenges for companies, as these are outside their direct control. Collaboration with partners along the supply chain and the promotion of sustainable procurement practices are crucial here.

We have also invested a great deal of time and effort in creating a reliable data basis in the various emission scopes. Based on the data, we have set ourselves ambitious climate targets and defined ambitious measures to achieve them.   

And this has paid off: the tesa climate target originally set for 2025 of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 30% in absolute terms compared to 2018 was already achieved in 2023 and even significantly exceeded with a reduction of 38%. Our efforts have also been recognized and rewarded externally, e.g. through our CDP Climate A rating.  

But we don’t stop here: We have further refined our original climate goal and committed to reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by an additional 20%, achieving a total reduction of 50% by 2025. By 2030, we aim to achieve climate-neutral production (Scope 1 and 2) and reduce indirect emissions along the value chain (Scope 3) by one-fifth compared to 2018. By 2045, we aim to reduce our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by at least 90% (Net Zero).