If you run a business in Ireland, you are increasingly likely to hear about Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. These three categories are the standard framework for measuring a company’s greenhouse gas footprint, and they are becoming impossible to ignore.
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to report emissions across all three scopes. Customers, investors and supply chain partners are asking for emissions data. And Ireland’s rising carbon tax – now €71 per tonne and heading to €100 by 2030 – makes understanding where your emissions come from a financial necessity, not just an environmental one.
But the jargon can be intimidating. This guide explains what each scope means in plain English, with real Irish examples to make it concrete, and covers what businesses in Ireland need to do about it.
📊 The Three Scopes – A Simple Overview
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol – developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development – divides a company’s emissions into three categories called “scopes.” Think of them as three concentric circles, moving outward from what you directly control to what happens across your entire value chain.
🌿 Scope 1 – Direct emissions from sources you own or control
🌿 Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from the energy you buy
🌿 Scope 3 – All other indirect emissions across your value chain
The critical thing to understand is that for most businesses, Scope 3 is by far the largest category – often 70-90% of total emissions. Yet it is also the hardest to measure and the most recent to come under regulatory scrutiny.
🏭 Scope 1 – Your Direct Emissions
Scope 1 covers greenhouse gases released directly from sources that your company owns or controls. These are the emissions you produce yourself, on your own premises or through your own equipment.
🔹 What Counts as Scope 1
🌿 Burning fuel on site – gas or oil boilers heating your offices, warehouses or factories. A hotel in Dublin running oil-fired heating produces Scope 1 emissions every time the boiler fires.
🌿 Company-owned vehicles – diesel vans in your delivery fleet, company cars, forklifts running on diesel or LPG. A logistics company in Cork with 50 diesel trucks produces significant Scope 1 emissions from those vehicles.
🌿 Industrial processes – chemical reactions that release greenhouse gases as part of manufacturing. CRH’s cement plants in Drogheda and Limerick are among Ireland’s largest Scope 1 emitters because the process of making cement (heating limestone to produce clinite) releases large amounts of CO₂ regardless of the energy source used.
🌿 Fugitive emissions – leaks from refrigeration systems, air conditioning units or gas pipelines. A supermarket chain’s refrigeration units leaking F-gases produce Scope 1 emissions.
🌿 On-site power generation – if you run your own generator, those emissions are Scope 1.
🔹 Irish Examples
🌿 Ryanair – the largest single emitter in Ireland under the EU Emissions Trading System, with over 10 million tonnes of CO₂ from jet fuel burned in its aircraft. For an airline, Scope 1 (burning jet fuel) dominates the emissions profile.
🌿 ESB Moneypoint – historically Ireland’s largest power station, burning coal and now transitioning. Its direct combustion emissions are Scope 1.
🌿 Irish Cement (CRH) – the Platin Works in Drogheda emitted just under 1 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2023, primarily from the chemical process of cement production. The Limerick plant added over 700,000 tonnes.
🌿 A local restaurant – the gas hob in the kitchen, the oil boiler heating the dining room and the delivery van out back all produce Scope 1 emissions. Small in absolute terms, but still part of the picture.
🔹 Why Scope 1 Matters
Scope 1 emissions are the most directly within your control. They are also the emissions most immediately affected by Ireland’s carbon tax, which applies to the fossil fuels you burn on your own premises and in your own vehicles. Reducing Scope 1 often delivers direct cost savings – switching from oil heating to a heat pump, for example, or replacing diesel vans with electric vehicles.
⚡ Scope 2 – Your Purchased Energy
Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the electricity, heat or steam that your company purchases from external providers. You do not burn the fuel yourself, but your demand for energy causes emissions at the power station.
🔹 What Counts as Scope 2
🌿 Electricity from the grid – every kilowatt-hour of electricity your business uses has an associated carbon footprint, depending on how that electricity was generated. In Ireland, the 2026 SEAI emissions factor for grid electricity is 224.1 gCO₂/kWh – meaning every 1,000 kWh of electricity your business consumes is associated with approximately 224 kg of CO₂.
🌿 Purchased heating or cooling – if your office is in a building with a district heating system, the emissions from that system are your Scope 2.
🌿 Purchased steam – relevant for some industrial processes.
🔹 Irish Examples
🌿 A tech company in Dublin – with a large office and server room consuming significant electricity, its Scope 2 emissions come entirely from grid electricity. Switching to a verified renewable electricity contract or installing rooftop solar reduces Scope 2.
🌿 Data centres – Ireland’s data centres consumed approximately 22% of national electricity demand in 2025. Their Scope 2 emissions are enormous, which is why new CRU rules require 80% of new large energy user demand to be met by additional renewable capacity.
🌿 A retail chain – lighting, refrigeration, heating and air conditioning across multiple stores all contribute to Scope 2 through grid electricity consumption.
🌿 A dairy processing plant – Glanbia’s Ballyragget facility and Dairygold’s Mitchelstown plant both consume significant electricity for processing, pasteurisation and refrigeration. The electricity portion of their energy use falls under Scope 2.
🔹 Two Ways to Calculate Scope 2
The GHG Protocol requires companies to report Scope 2 emissions using two methods:
🌿 Location-based – uses the average emissions intensity of the grid where your electricity is consumed. In Ireland, this is the SEAI grid emissions factor (224.1 gCO₂/kWh in 2026). As Ireland’s grid gets greener through more wind and solar, this number falls for everyone.
🌿 Market-based – reflects the specific electricity you have contracted to buy. If you have a power purchase agreement for renewable electricity, or you buy Guarantees of Origin certificates, your market-based Scope 2 can be significantly lower than your location-based figure.
The distinction matters for reporting. A company buying 100% certified renewable electricity can report zero market-based Scope 2 emissions, even though its location-based figure remains unchanged.
🌐 Scope 3 – Your Value Chain Emissions
Scope 3 is everything else – all the indirect emissions that occur in your company’s value chain, both upstream (your supply chain) and downstream (what happens after your product or service leaves your hands). This is where it gets complicated, but also where the biggest impact usually lies.
For most companies, Scope 3 represents 70-90% of their total carbon footprint. It is also the hardest to measure because it depends on the actions of suppliers, customers and other third parties.
🔹 Upstream Scope 3 (Your Supply Chain)
🌿 Purchased goods and services – the emissions involved in producing everything you buy. For a food manufacturer, this includes the farming, processing and transport of raw ingredients. For Kerry Group, dairy is the single largest contributor to Scope 3 because of the methane and nitrous oxide emissions associated with milk production on farms.
🌿 Capital goods – emissions from manufacturing the equipment, machinery and buildings you buy. A construction company purchasing steel, concrete and plant equipment has significant Scope 3 from these purchases.
🌿 Fuel and energy-related activities not in Scope 1 or 2 – upstream emissions from extracting and refining the fuel and electricity you use. The emissions from drilling the oil that becomes the diesel in your delivery vans are Scope 3, even though burning that diesel is Scope 1.
🌿 Transportation and distribution – emissions from transporting goods you have purchased. If a supplier ships components from China to your factory in Galway, the shipping emissions are your Scope 3.
🌿 Waste generated in operations – emissions from treating and disposing of your business waste. Waste sent to landfill produces methane; waste sent to incineration produces CO₂.
🌿 Business travel – flights, hotels, taxis and train journeys by your employees. An Irish consultancy firm with staff regularly flying to London, Frankfurt or New York has significant Scope 3 from business travel.
🌿 Employee commuting – emissions from your staff getting to and from work. A company with 500 employees, most driving to an out-of-town business park, has meaningful Scope 3 from commuting.
🔹 Downstream Scope 3 (After Your Product Leaves)
🌿 Use of sold products – emissions from customers using your product. A car manufacturer’s biggest Scope 3 category is the fuel burned by drivers over the lifetime of the vehicles it sells. For a gas boiler manufacturer, it is the gas burned in homes over the boiler’s lifespan.
🌿 End-of-life treatment – emissions from disposing of your product after the customer is finished with it. Packaging that goes to landfill, electronics sent to waste, clothing that is incinerated.
🌿 Downstream transportation – emissions from distributing your product to customers after it leaves your premises.
🌿 Investments – for financial institutions, the emissions associated with the companies and projects they finance. This is why banks like AIB and Bank of Ireland face pressure to account for the climate impact of their lending portfolios.
🔹 Irish Examples
🌿 Kerry Group – as a global food ingredients company, Kerry’s Scope 3 dwarfs its Scope 1 and 2 combined. The emissions from farming the raw materials it purchases (particularly dairy) represent the largest share. Kerry reduced its Scope 3 by only 9% by 2023 against its 2017 baseline – illustrating how challenging value chain emissions are to address.
🌿 Kingspan – the insulation manufacturer’s Scope 3 includes the emissions from producing raw materials (chemicals, metals) and the downstream impact of its products being installed in buildings. However, Kingspan’s products also avoid far more emissions over their lifetime than they create – a net positive that the company highlights in its reporting.
🌿 An Post – one of Ireland’s leading reporters on CDP. Its Scope 3 includes employee commuting, business travel, purchased goods and the upstream emissions of the fuel and electricity it uses. An Post has been transitioning its delivery fleet to electric vehicles, which reduces Scope 1 but also changes the Scope 3 profile (from upstream oil extraction to upstream electricity generation and vehicle manufacturing).
🌿 A small Irish retailer – a shop in Limerick selling imported clothing has Scope 3 emissions from the manufacturing of those garments (often in Asia), shipping them to Ireland, the washing and drying done by customers at home and the eventual disposal of the clothing. These Scope 3 emissions massively outweigh the shop’s Scope 1 (heating) and Scope 2 (electricity) combined.
📋 Why This Matters Now – CSRD and Reporting Requirements
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the main reason Irish businesses need to understand scopes. The CSRD requires companies to report on their environmental impact, including greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, following the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
🔹 Who Needs to Report
The CSRD is being phased in. Following the Omnibus I simplification package approved by the EU Parliament in December 2025, the scope has been narrowed to focus on larger companies:
🌿 Already reporting (from 2025): Large public interest entities with over 500 employees
🌿 Coming next: Companies with 1,000+ employees and €450 million+ turnover
🌿 Smaller listed companies: Timelines have been pushed back by two years under the Omnibus proposals
Even if your business is not directly in scope, you may be asked for emissions data by larger customers or supply chain partners who are. If you supply goods or services to a company that reports under CSRD, your emissions become part of their Scope 3 – and they will increasingly need that data from you.
🔹 What You Need to Report
Under the ESRS Climate Change standard (ESRS E1), companies must disclose:
🌿 Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
🌿 A credible transition plan aligned with the Paris Agreement
🌿 Climate-related risks and opportunities
🌿 Carbon pricing strategies and energy usage
Scope 3 reporting has been acknowledged as the most challenging element. The Omnibus I revisions include provisions allowing reporting to be limited to information available “without undue cost or effort” and a phased approach to Scope 3, but the direction of travel is clear – comprehensive value chain reporting is expected.
🔹 Beyond CSRD
Even outside the CSRD, emissions reporting is increasingly expected by investors (through CDP), customers (particularly multinationals with their own net zero targets), lenders (green lending criteria), and public procurement (government tenders increasingly include sustainability criteria).
An Ibec survey found that only one in four Irish companies understood the implications of the CSRD. Getting ahead of reporting requirements – rather than scrambling to comply at the last minute – gives Irish businesses a competitive advantage.
🔧 How to Start Measuring Your Emissions
If you are an Irish business that has not yet measured its carbon footprint, here is a practical starting point:
🔹 Step 1 – Start with Scope 1 and 2
These are the easiest to measure because you have the data already. Pull together your gas and oil bills (Scope 1), your electricity bills (Scope 2) and your fleet fuel records (Scope 1). Multiply consumption by the relevant emissions factor – SEAI publishes the official Irish factors annually. The 2026 electricity emissions factor is 224.1 gCO₂/kWh.
🔹 Step 2 – Identify Your Material Scope 3 Categories
You do not need to measure all 15 Scope 3 categories immediately. Start with the ones most relevant to your business. For most Irish companies, the biggest Scope 3 categories are purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, upstream transportation and waste. Use spend-based estimates (multiplying your procurement spend by industry-average emissions factors) as a starting point.
🔹 Step 3 – Set a Baseline and Targets
Once you have a first-pass carbon footprint, you have a baseline against which to measure progress. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) provides a framework for setting emission reduction targets consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. In Ireland, 33 companies had approved science-based targets as of 2022, with another 33 committed to setting them.
🔹 Step 4 – Reduce, Then Report
The point of measuring is to identify where to act. Common quick wins for Irish businesses include switching to renewable electricity (reducing Scope 2), replacing oil heating with heat pumps (reducing Scope 1), electrifying fleet vehicles, reducing business travel through remote working, and engaging suppliers on their own emissions.
🏠 How Scopes Apply to Households
While the scope framework is designed for businesses, it provides a useful way to think about your own household emissions too:
🌿 Your “Scope 1” – the oil or gas you burn in your boiler, the petrol or diesel in your car
🌿 Your “Scope 2” – the electricity you buy from the grid
🌿 Your “Scope 3” – the emissions embedded in the food you eat, the clothes you buy, the flights you take, and the products you consume
Improving your home’s BER rating through retrofitting reduces your “Scope 1.” Installing solar panels reduces your “Scope 2.” And the choices you make as a consumer – what you buy, how much you waste, how often you fly – affect your “Scope 3.”
SEAI grants are available for the most impactful household changes: heat pumps (up to €12,500), solar panels (up to €1,800), insulation and windows.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
🔹 What are Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
Scope 1 covers direct emissions from sources you own or control (burning fuel on site, company vehicles, industrial processes). Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased electricity and energy. Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions in your value chain – from your supply chain to your customers’ use of your products. Together, they represent your complete carbon footprint.
🔹 Which scope is usually the largest?
Scope 3, by a significant margin. For most companies, Scope 3 accounts for 70-90% of total emissions. It is also the hardest to measure because it depends on the actions of suppliers, customers and other third parties outside your direct control.
🔹 Do Irish businesses have to report their emissions?
Large companies operating in the EU are increasingly required to under the CSRD. The phased introduction means the largest companies are already reporting, with smaller companies coming into scope over the next few years. Even if not directly required, many Irish businesses are being asked for emissions data by customers, investors and supply chain partners.
🔹 What is the CSRD?
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is EU legislation requiring companies to report on their environmental and social impact, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. It follows the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and applies to large EU companies and non-EU companies with significant EU operations. The Omnibus I package (December 2025) narrowed the scope and extended some timelines.
🔹 How do I measure my company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions?
Start with your energy bills. Multiply your gas, oil and fuel consumption by the relevant SEAI emissions factors to get Scope 1. Multiply your electricity consumption by the grid emissions factor (224.1 gCO₂/kWh for 2026) to get Scope 2. SEAI publishes updated factors annually.
🔹 How do I measure Scope 3?
Start with spend-based estimates for your largest procurement categories, then refine over time with supplier-specific data. The GHG Protocol defines 15 Scope 3 categories. Focus first on the ones most material to your business – typically purchased goods, business travel, commuting and waste. Many Irish companies use carbon accounting platforms or consultants to support this process.
🔹 Can I reduce Scope 2 by buying green electricity?
Yes, partially. A verified renewable electricity contract or Guarantees of Origin certificates can reduce your market-based Scope 2 to zero. However, your location-based Scope 2 (based on the average grid mix) remains unchanged. Both methods should be reported. Installing on-site solar panels reduces both.
🔹 What are science-based targets?
Targets for reducing emissions that are consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, as set out by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). They require companies to reduce emissions across all three scopes on a defined timeline. Over 60 Irish companies have either set or committed to setting science-based targets.
🔹 How does this connect to Ireland’s net zero target?
Ireland’s legally binding target is net zero by 2050, with a 51% reduction by 2030. Business emissions across all three scopes contribute to national totals. Reducing Scope 1 (through electrification and efficiency), Scope 2 (through renewable energy) and Scope 3 (through supply chain engagement) all contribute to Ireland meeting its climate commitments.
🔹 What happens if my business does not report?
If you are within the scope of the CSRD, non-compliance can result in penalties, reputational damage and loss of access to capital. Even if not legally required to report, businesses that cannot provide emissions data risk losing customers and supply chain contracts as larger companies need Scope 3 data from their suppliers.
📚 Related Guides
🌿 Climate Change Ireland
🌿 Carbon Tax
🌿 Biodiversity
🌿 Extreme Weather & the Economy
🌿 Net Zero
🌿 Greenwashing
🌿 Circular Economy
🌿 Climate Glossary
👉 All guides and calculators
Climate Jargon Buster is an independent resource providing plain-English information on climate, energy and sustainability topics for an Irish audience. This article is correct as of March 2026. For official Irish emissions factors, visit seai.ie. For information on the GHG Protocol, visit ghgprotocol.org. For CSRD guidance, visit ec.europa.eu.