Can I add Scope 1 and Scope 2 into one total, and which Scope 2 method goes in it?

Yes, but the single total should use the same Scope 2 method as your reduction goal, and you shall say which. Or report two totals, one per method. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol also says that where certificates carry enforceable claims, goals should use the market-based total.

The two ways to show a total

• Two inventory totals: Scope 1 plus location-based Scope 2, and Scope 1 plus market-based Scope 2.
• One total: Scope 1 plus one Scope 2 method. It should use the method you use for goal setting, and you shall disclose which one.

Choosing the goal method

A company does not have to set a Scope 2 target. If it does, it shall say which method the goal and progress tracking use, including for the base year. Where certificates or contractual instruments convey legally enforceable claims, the guide says to use the market-based total for goals. Two targets, one per method, can help prioritise projects that cut both totals.

A trap in a location-based goal

Scope 2 can fall with no action by the company, because the grid average or the residual mix factor falls. The guide says so and suggests energy goals, such as energy per unit of output, to show the part within your control.

What to write

• The method behind any single total, in the same line as the number.
• The method behind the goal, and the base-year method.
• Both Scope 2 totals, even when the single total shows one.

Scope 1 of 1,200 tonnes, 800,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) bought

• Location-based Scope 2: 800,000 x 0.675 = 540 tonnes. Total 1,740 tonnes
• Market-based: 400,000 kWh covered by certificates at zero, 400,000 x 0.675 = 270 tonnes. Total 1,470 tonnes
• A single total using the market-based method should be labelled 1,470, with the goal on the same method
• If the grid factor fell to 0.65 with no action: location-based Scope 2 would be 800,000 x 0.65 = 520 tonnes

0.675 is the Central Electricity Authority financial year 2025-26 grid factor, an estimate. 0.65 is an example.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads electricity bills and fuel invoices into monthly records, so Scope 1 and Scope 2 figures come from the same bills. Which method your goal uses is your decision to record.

• Carbon calculators
• Falling grid factor and reduction targets
• Buyer asks for location and market-based Scope 2
• Target base year and inventory base year

Sources: GHG Protocol, Scope 2 Guidance (2015), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector

Last reviewed 2026-11-04. The GHG Protocol is revising its Scope 2 rules. Check ghgprotocol.org for the current text before you file.