What are scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?

Understanding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions begins with the GHG Protocol, which classifies emissions into three scopes. This framework helps companies identify where emissions occur in their operations and supply chains, making it easier to measure and reduce their climate impact.

  • Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from activities owned or controlled by your company, such as fuel use on-site. Biomass combustion is excluded and reported separately. 
  • Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from purchased electricity or energy used within your operations. These occur at the energy provider but are accounted for by the user. 
  • Scope 3 refers to all other indirect emissions across your value chain, including purchased goods, transport, and product end-of-life. Scope 3 is divided into upstream and downstream categories. Upstream refers to all emissions that occur before production, including Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Downstream refers to all emissions that occur after the product leaves your company's gates.

Why is scope 3 important?

Scope 3 is the largest scope and the most difficult to influence since it encompasses indirect emissions from sources that are not owned or controlled by you. These include all the aggregated emissions from the production of purchased goods or services, the transportation of products, employee commuting, and many other sources.   

How Holmen calculates emissions

Holmen calculates greenhouse gas emissions using a cradle-to-gate approach, covering everything from raw material sourcing to the point the product leaves the mill. This includes Scope 1, 2 and selected Scope 3 emissions, reported in full and verified by third parties.

Reporting environmental declarations

Holmen uses environmental declarations and paper profiles to report environmental performance. It includes direct emissions (scope 1), energy use, and impact on air and water. Scope 1 emissions are calculated per tonne of product, following the GHG Protocol. Since Holmen purchases fossil-free electricity under an emissions guarantee, scope 2 emissions are reported as zero. Energy use is also shown separately in kWh/tonne, supporting more detailed comparisons.

Including upstream scope 3

While many models focus only on Scope 1 and 2, Holmen includes upstream Scope 3 emissions such as fibre sourcing and transport. This approach avoids generic estimates and reflects Holmen’s high level of control over its supply chain, resulting in more accurate and comparable data.

Tools for climate footprint calculations

Holmen uses two third-party tools to calculate and communicate emissions: ClimateCalc and FisherSolve. These tools ensure consistency, transparency and comparability across products and suppliers. By using these tools, Holmen ensures that its climate footprint data is reliable, traceable and aligned with international standards.

ClimateCalc

Developed by European trade association Intergraf and based on ISO standards and the GHG Protocol, this tool calculates cradle-to-gate emissions across Scope 1, 2 and selected Scope 3 categories. It is certified by independent auditors and widely used in the graphic industry to support product-level footprint comparisons and carbon offsetting decisions.

FisherSolve

This database provides mill-level CO₂ data, enabling benchmarking across paper and board suppliers. It uses verified input data and standardised boundaries to calculate cradle-to-gate emissions per tonne of product. Holmen’s mills rank among the lowest in Europe for CO₂ emissions, and benchmark data from FisherSolve helps customers compare mills fairly and choose climate-smart suppliers.

Where do I start?

Now that you understand how to calculate and report GHG emissions across Scope 1, 2 and 3, what is the next step? You don't have to address the scopes in order, there are some easy wins in all three scopes that you can look into straight away. Like using fossil-free fuels in the onsite vehicles, switching to green electricity for your production, or reviewing the emissions of your most used input materials and considering alternatives.