How do you get greenhouse gas emissions data per company?

We source our greenhouse gas emissions data from official statistics published by the ONS and the Business Register Employment Survey.

The methodology behind greenhouse gas emissions data at the company level is very similar to GVA's. Therefore, the limitations of greenhouse gas emissions data relate to the limitations of GVA estimates per company. 

The original data we use to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions data Atmospheric emissions: greenhouse gases by industry and gas and the Business Register Employment Survey. These two tables allow us to develop a standard figure of greenhouse gas emissions per employee per SIC.

Then, we use the SIC and employee data we have available at the company level to calculate an estimate for each company. Hence, you will need to consider:

  • Companies may include international employees in their accounts, so the total greenhouse gas emissions data may represent emissions produced by employees abroad
  • The SIC groupings developed by the ONS and BRES are very broad and we match them down to 5-digit SICs. This may mean that two companies that do something different may be given the same standard greenhouse gas emissions measure. 
  • Companies choose more than one SIC. At this stage, we divide the number of employees of a company equally across all SICs selected by a company. Then, we multiply the split value for each SIC’s greenhouse gas emissions measure.

You will want to pay special attention to the SIC some companies select.

For example, SHELL PLC provides energy products, but they selected SIC 70100: Activities of head offices. This means we are estimating Shell's greenhouse gas emissions using the standard figure for SIC 70100: Activities of Head Offices, which has a much lower GHG value than one for an energy generation SIC.

Hence, GHG emissions estimates may not be representative of a company if a company selects a SIC not related to its actual economic activity. 

Limitations: For more information about our data and its limitations, please make sure you read our Using Our Data Safely guide