What is Scope 4, and should we report it?
Scope 4 is an informal name for avoided emissions: the emissions a product helps customers avoid compared with an alternative. It is not a GHG Protocol scope. Report it, if at all, separately from Scope 1, 2 and 3, with the comparison scenario stated, and never subtract it from your footprint.
How to report it
- State the reference product or scenario.
- Show the calculation and its assumptions.
- Keep it outside the inventory totals.
When it is credible
When the product clearly performs better than what it replaces, the reference is realistic, and your own Scope 1, 2 and 3 are reported in full beside it.
What Senseible does here
Senseible keeps each figure behind a claim traceable to the invoices and bills it came from, so a reader can check the number rather than take the wording on trust.
Sources: WBCSD Guidance on Avoided Emissions (2023), GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
Last reviewed 2026-10-23.