Customer Carbon Footprint Tool Expands: Additional emissions categories including Scope 3 are now available – Amazon Web Services

Report on Enhancements to the AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

Since its launch in 2022, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (CCFT) has provided customers with data to track, measure, and review the estimated carbon emissions associated with their use of AWS services. This report details recent significant updates to the CCFT, focusing on the inclusion of comprehensive emissions data and analyzing the tool’s direct contributions to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key Updates and Features

Recent enhancements to the CCFT provide customers with more granular and comprehensive data, facilitating more effective sustainability strategies. These updates are pivotal for organizations committed to climate action and responsible corporate governance.

• Expanded Emissions Data: The tool now incorporates Scope 3 emissions and provides updates to Scope 1 emissions, offering a more complete view of a customer’s carbon footprint.
• Granular Reporting: Visibility into emissions has been improved with breakdowns by AWS Region and the inclusion of location-based emissions (LBM) alongside the market-based method (MBM).
• Updated Methodology: An independently-verified methodology (Version 3.0.0) has been implemented, aligning with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.
• Improved Accessibility: The tool has been moved to a dedicated page in the AWS Billing console for easier access, with enhanced data export and visualization options.

Methodological Advancements (Version 3.0.0)

The updated methodology provides a more holistic assessment of carbon emissions by incorporating new categories across Scope 1 and Scope 3, as defined by the GHG Protocol.

Scope 1 Emissions

The tool’s Scope 1 data has been expanded to include:

• Refrigerants
• Natural gas
• Fuel combustion in emergency backup generators (diesel)

Scope 3 Emissions

The methodology now includes material Scope 3 categories, representing the vast majority of these indirect emissions. The emissions are amortized over the assets’ service life to provide accurate monthly allocations.

1. Fuel- and energy-related activities (FERA): This includes upstream emissions from purchased fuels and electricity, as well as transmission and distribution losses.
2. IT hardware: A cradle-to-gate approach tracks emissions from raw material extraction through manufacturing and transportation to AWS data centers.
3. Buildings and equipment: Following whole building life cycle assessment (wbLCA) standards, this category covers emissions from the construction, use, and end-of-life phases of data center infrastructure.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The CCFT is a critical instrument that empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions that directly support several SDGs.

• SDG 13: Climate Action: The tool’s primary function is to enable climate action. By providing detailed Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data, it allows companies to accurately measure their carbon footprint, set reduction targets, and track progress, directly contributing to the goal of combating climate change and its impacts.
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: The CCFT promotes sustainable production patterns by giving companies the transparency needed to manage their consumption of cloud resources responsibly. This data is essential for corporate sustainability reporting and helps drive the adoption of more efficient operational practices.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: As an innovative digital tool, the CCFT supports the development of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. It encourages sustainable industrialization by integrating environmental performance measurement into core business operations, allowing companies to innovate responsibly.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: AWS provides the CCFT as a mechanism to support its customers’ sustainability journeys. This fosters a partnership for sustainable development, where AWS enables its global customer base to collectively work towards achieving their climate goals and contributing to global targets.

Industry Impact and Stakeholder Feedback

Early access customers have affirmed the value of the CCFT updates in advancing their sustainability objectives. Feedback highlights the tool’s role in enabling effective decarbonization and transparent reporting.

• Salesforce: Sunya Norman, SVP of Impact, noted that granular carbon data from AWS is “critical to helping us better understand the actual emissions associated with our cloud infrastructure and focus reductions where they matter most.”
• SAP: Gerhard Loske, Head of Environmental Management, stated that the updates are “a big step forward in helping us managing SAP’s sustainability goals,” turning data into “meaningful climate action.”
• Pinterest: Mia Ketterling, Global Sustainability Lead, highlighted that the inclusion of Scope 3 data “empowers customers like Pinterest to more accurately measure and report the full carbon footprint of our digital operations.”

Conclusion

The recent enhancements to the AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool, particularly the inclusion of Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions, represent a significant advancement in corporate sustainability management. The tool provides the comprehensive and verifiable data necessary for organizations to not only track their environmental impact but also to strategically align their operations with global sustainability frameworks, most notably the Sustainable Development Goals. By enabling transparent measurement and reporting, the CCFT serves as a vital asset for driving meaningful climate action and fostering responsible innovation across industries.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
   • The article discusses the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (CCFT), an innovative technological solution developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS). This tool represents an advancement in digital infrastructure that helps other industries (AWS customers) operate more sustainably by providing them with data on their environmental impact.
2. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
   • The CCFT directly promotes responsible consumption by enabling companies to understand the environmental consequences of their cloud service usage. By providing detailed emissions data, it encourages companies to adopt more sustainable practices and integrate this information into their corporate reporting, as highlighted by customers like Salesforce and Pinterest.
3. SDG 13: Climate Action
   • This is the most central SDG addressed. The entire purpose of the CCFT is to help companies “track, measure, and review their carbon emissions.” This empowers organizations to take informed action to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to climate change mitigation. The tool’s focus on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions aligns directly with global standards for climate action and reporting.
4. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
   • The article showcases a partnership between a technology provider (AWS) and its customers (Salesforce, SAP, Pinterest). AWS provides the tool and data, and the customers use this information to advance their own sustainability goals. This collaboration between private sector entities to achieve a common environmental objective is a clear example of a partnership for sustainable development.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable.
   • The CCFT is a tool that facilitates the adoption of “environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.” By giving companies visibility into the carbon emissions of their digital infrastructure, it enables them to make choices that increase resource-use efficiency and sustainability.
2. Target 12.6: Encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices and integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.
   • The article directly supports this target. Customer testimonials emphasize this point. Sunya Norman from Salesforce states that “granular carbon data we get from cloud providers like AWS are critical to helping us better understand the actual emissions,” and Mia Ketterling from Pinterest notes that the tool empowers them to “more accurately measure and report the full carbon footprint of our digital operations.”
3. Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation.
   • The CCFT enhances the “institutional capacity” of companies to manage their climate impact. By providing detailed, actionable data, it educates users on their carbon footprint and builds their ability to implement “meaningful climate action,” as stated by Gerhard Loske from SAP.
4. Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships.
   • The relationship described between AWS and its customers is a form of private-private partnership aimed at achieving sustainability goals. AWS provides a critical tool, and companies like Salesforce, SAP, and Pinterest use it to “drive meaningful climate action across our value chain,” demonstrating an effective partnership model.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Total carbon emissions measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e).
   • The article explicitly states that “The unit of measurement for carbon emissions is metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e), an industry-standard measure.” This is the primary quantitative indicator provided by the tool.
2. Breakdown of emissions by Scope 1, 2, and 3.
   • The article announces the “inclusion of Scope 3 emissions data and an update to Scope 1 emissions,” complementing the existing Scope 2 data. This detailed breakdown, based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, serves as a specific set of indicators to measure the full range of a company’s carbon footprint.
3. Emissions data by geographical location (AWS Region).
   • The tool provides “visibility into emissions by AWS Region.” This geographical indicator allows companies to “see better where emissions are coming from and take targeted action,” as noted by SAP.
4. Estimated emissions savings.
   • The dashboard screenshot and text mention that “You can see estimated AWS emissions and estimated emissions savings.” This indicator directly measures the positive impact of reduction efforts and the efficiency of using cloud infrastructure.
5. Trends of carbon emissions over time.
   • The tool provides “38 months of data by default” and shows “trends of your carbon emissions over time.” This time-series data acts as an indicator to track progress and the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: aws.amazon.com