Scope 1 GHG Emissions
Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company. They are typically the easiest scope to measure and the starting point for any GHG inventory under ESRS E1-6.
Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company. Scope 1 covers all direct GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company.
What counts as Scope 1
Scope 1 covers all direct GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company. This includes: stationary combustion (boilers, furnaces, generators running on gas, oil or coal); mobile combustion (company-owned vehicles, aircraft, vessels); industrial processes (chemical reactions, manufacturing processes that release GHGs); and fugitive emissions (refrigerant leaks, methane from landfills or pipelines).
The key test is ownership or control — if your company owns or operates the emission source, it is Scope 1.
Calculating Scope 1 under ESRS E1-6
The calculation method is: Activity data × Emission factor = GHG emissions.
For fuel combustion: fuel consumption (litres or cubic metres) × fuel-specific emission factor (kg CO2e per litre or m³) = kg CO2e.
For refrigerants: refrigerant quantity purchased or leaked (kg) × global warming potential (GWP100 from IPCC AR6) = kg CO2e.
ESRS E1-6 requires disclosure by GHG type (CO2, CH4, N2O etc.) and by business activity. You must also separately report biogenic CO2 (from burning biomass) — it is not included in the total but must be disclosed.
Data sources for Scope 1
Energy bills and fuel purchase records provide the most reliable activity data. Supplement with: vehicle fleet fuel consumption logs; refrigerant purchase and maintenance records; utility meters and sub-meters; and process engineering data for industrial processes.
For emission factors, use DEFRA 2025 GHG Conversion Factors (UK), ADEME factors (France), or the equivalent national authority factors for your country of operation. For multinational companies, use country-specific factors for each country.
Frequently asked questions
Do we include emissions from company cars used by employees privately?
Yes, if the company owns or leases the vehicles. Fuel consumed by company vehicles is Scope 1 regardless of whether the trip is business or personal use.
We lease our office — do we have Scope 1 emissions?
Probably not for the office itself (landlord's Scope 1). But if you have company vehicles, backup generators, or any combustion equipment in your operations, those are Scope 1.
What is the difference between Scope 1 gross and net emissions?
Gross Scope 1 is total emissions before any carbon credits or offsets. Net Scope 1 deducts verified carbon removals. ESRS E1-6 requires disclosure of GROSS emissions — net figures can be additionally disclosed but cannot replace gross disclosure.