# The verifier asks why our emissions changed so much from last year. What do they want?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/verifier-asks-why-emissions-changed

They want a short, evidenced reason for each large movement: more production, a fuel switch, a new machine, a corrected error or a changed factor. Prepare a table of last year versus this year by source, with the cause and the document behind each change.

## Build a change table

- Source, last year, this year, change.
- Cause in one line.
- Evidence: production report, invoice, purchase order or method note.

## Common causes

- Production up or down.
- Switch from coal or diesel to gas or grid power.
- Emission factor version changed.
- Error found and corrected in last year's figure.

## If last year was wrong

Say so and restate, rather than letting this year absorb the correction.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps each figure tied to its invoice, factor and method version, so a verifier can trace any number back to the document it came from.

- [Restate after an error](https://senseible.earth/answers/restate-emissions-after-finding-an-error)
- [Internal review before verification](https://senseible.earth/answers/internal-review-before-external-verification)
- [Absolute vs intensity target](https://senseible.earth/answers/absolute-or-intensity-reduction-target)

Sources: [ISO 14064-3, verification of greenhouse gas statements](https://www.iso.org), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.