We periodically update how the BEE calculates emissions. These improvements are a routine part of maintaining a high-integrity carbon accounting tool for all our users. Our goal is to give users confidence that the purchases you enter into the BEE are converted into emissions data that reflect global average production methods, using the best available scientific knowledge.
At a high level, these changes are necessary because the carbon intensity of global production is ever-changing. Clean energy is expanding, but so is fossil fuel use. National economies rise and fall from year to year. New industrial technologies are making production more efficient – in some places. All of this affects the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions that result from producing goods and services.
There are three specific ways that updates affect emissions calculations in the BEE - we’ve summarized each one below.
1. Methodology
The BEE follows standard practices for corporate GHG accounting as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The GHGP outlines how to categorize emissions, set control boundaries and materiality thresholds, quantify emissions from operations and supply chains, and much more. You can read more about BEE methodology in depth here.
2. Emission factors
The BEE uses widely accepted emission factor libraries from third parties like EXIOBASE, Ecoinvent and the EPA. These entities maintain large datasets that allow users to understand the emissions associated with production processes and materials. Emission factors are the magic between entering a purchase amount in your workbook and understanding the emissions from that purchase.
3. Inflation
Inflation touches everything, even carbon accounting! Emission factors for monetary data have a specific source year, and it’s standard practice to adjust them annually to account for inflation in the footprinting year.
Periodic updates to the BEE
When we make updates to the BEE around how emissions are calculated, improvements typically fall into these three categories:
Emission factor updates: Since the world is constantly changing and new scientific studies about GHG emissions are constantly being published, this is the most common type of update. Little by little, each of these improvements increases the accuracy of your carbon inventory in the BEE with the latest data available.
Inflation updates: New year, new inflation rates. These updates are annual, and ensure anytime you enter monetary data, the BEE understands how much “stuff” it represents, and can better quantify the associated emissions.
Methodology updates: The leading guidance on how to quantify emissions is updated from time to time, and so we make changes to the BEE’s calculation methodology to ensure your measurement work is following the latest approach to high-integrity carbon accounting. We also update the methodology if we ever identify errors in our calculation approach.
You can read more about what's in each new version of the BEE in our Release Notes.
How updates affect your results
It's to be expected that updates to the BEE may result in differences in the GHG emissions you observe from a single purchase year over year. But not to worry, your historical measurements remain as is, and your current and future measurements will be based on the most up-to-date approach to carbon accounting.
This means that there is no reason to adjust historical tonne-for-tonne emissions compensation. Also, your target-setting baseline does not need to be adjusted due to routine emission factor updates. Change Climate refers to SBTi’s guidance (see section VII) on base year recalculation policies and thresholds.
That said, if you do observe changes in emissions due to these updates, it’s important to be as transparent as possible to explain year-to-year differences. In your emissions reporting and disclosures, try to communicate — to the best of your ability — what caused the increase or decrease. For example, if you are seeing lower emissions but still buying the same amount of material, that might point to an emission factor that decreased. While imperfect, this is a common challenge that all companies measuring and reporting emissions must navigate. For now, transparency is the best tool to explain the results you’re seeing.