# What is Scope 4, and should we report it?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/what-is-scope-4-avoided-emissions

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.

- [Calculate avoided emissions](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-calculate-avoided-emissions)
- [Can recycling be deducted?](https://senseible.earth/answers/recycling-avoided-emissions-can-i-deduct)

Sources: [WBCSD Guidance on Avoided Emissions (2023)](https://www.wbcsd.org), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-23.