Measuring Scope 1 and 2 emissions: a practical start for SMEs

Many managers put off emissions accounting because they assume it needs specialists and expensive software. In practice, the first step, measuring Scope 1 and Scope 2, mostly uses data that already sits in the finance department.

The SME survey published in the 2025 book shows why this matters. Only 6% of participating companies had installed energy-saving equipment, and 32% did not know how much waste they produce. Measurement is the missing link.

The reference: the GHG Protocol

The most widely used method for corporate emissions is the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It requires companies to account for and report Scope 1 and Scope 2 separately, as a minimum.

• Scope 1: direct emissions from sources the company owns or controls, such as fuel for vehicles, generators and boilers, and leaks of refrigerant gases.
• Scope 2: emissions from generating the electricity the company buys and uses. They happen at the power station but are attributed to you as the consumer.
• Scope 3: all other indirect emissions across the value chain, such as purchased goods, freight and business travel. It comes later, once the first two are solid.

Step one: set your boundary

Before collecting numbers, decide what is in. Under the control approach the standard lets you choose operational control, meaning you have full authority to introduce your operating policies at a site, or financial control. Most small companies choose operational control because it is simpler: every branch, warehouse or vehicle you run is counted at 100%.

Step two: collect a full year of data

• Fuel: litres of diesel and petrol from fuel station invoices or fleet cards, and from generator logs.
• Refrigerants: air-conditioning maintenance records and the quantities of gas topped up.
• Electricity: kWh from Kahramaa bills for each meter, for twelve consecutive months.

If these bills are not kept in one place, that is the project’s first payoff: a single monthly energy log helps the finance team before it ever helps a sustainability report.

Step three: convert quantities to emissions

At its simplest, the calculation is quantity used multiplied by an emission factor. Fuel factors are published in the GHG Protocol’s tools. Electricity needs a grid factor. We could not find an official, published factor for Qatar’s grid to point to, so choose one from a documented source, state the source and year in your report, and apply it consistently from year to year.

The 2015 Scope 2 Guidance sets out two methods. The location-based method reflects the average emissions intensity of the grid you draw from. The market-based method reflects electricity the company has chosen through contracts or certificates. Where such contractual instruments exist, the guidance asks companies to report both, known as dual reporting. Where they do not, location-based is the natural starting point.

Common first-year mistakes

• Leaving out standby generators, or contractor vehicles the company actually operates.
• Mixing electricity the company pays for with power in a shared building paid by someone else. State it explicitly in your boundary.
• Changing the emission factor or the boundary from one year to the next without saying so, which makes a change in the number look like progress or decline when it is neither.
• Stopping at one annual figure, when monthly data shows peak seasons and savings opportunities.

Free tools to get going

The SME Climate Hub offers free calculators designed for small businesses to measure their emissions; using them requires an account. In year one, a simple spreadsheet also works, as long as sources and assumptions are written down.

What this means for your company

Listed companies and banks in Qatar must report under ISSB Standards from the 2026 financial year, and those standards rely on the GHG Protocol for measuring emissions. As these organisations start to map their value chains, they will ask suppliers and clients for numbers. A company that knows its Scope 1 and 2 today will answer with confidence tomorrow.

A one-quarter plan: gather last year’s bills, calculate the two figures, and pick one reduction target. Then share what you found in the national corporate sustainability survey, so your company’s experience is part of the picture presented at the conference on 25 March 2027.