Upstream emissions
Upstream emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from value-chain activities that occur before an organization's own operations or purchased output. Applying Upstream emissions requires a stated emissions scope, inventory boundary, baseline, energy system, and assessment horizon. Those choices determine how Upstream emissions can be compared or acted upon.
In simple terms
In practical use, Upstream emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from value-chain activities that occur before an organization's own operations or purchased output. For Upstream emissions, assessment should identify the driver, exposure, affected people or assets, likelihood, consequence, and available response within a declared emissions scope, inventory boundary, baseline, energy system, and assessment horizon. Upstream emissions connects with Scope 3 emissions and Climate change; each can affect its application without sharing its definition. The candidate link between Upstream emissions and Renewable energy certificate remains a separate expansion question supported here by Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Why it matters
Upstream emissions matters because decisions about it determine which emissions enter an inventory, which transition option appears credible, and how progress is compared over time. A defensible use of Upstream emissions therefore exposes its boundary, method, evidence, responsible actor, and uncertainty before a conclusion is accepted. That discipline keeps Scope 3 emissions and Climate change from being treated as proof of Upstream emissions when their criteria, scope, or results differ.
Example
An emissions and energy team evaluates Upstream emissions for a defined decision and records the relevant emissions scope, inventory boundary, baseline, energy system, and assessment horizon. For Upstream emissions, the team uses cited material from Greenhouse Gas Protocol to identify the exposure, affected people or assets, and available response, documenting the period, data, assumptions, and comparison with Scope 3 emissions. It treats Climate change and Renewable energy certificate as separate questions rather than proxies for Upstream emissions.
How it differs
Scope 3 emissions
Upstream emissions is a issue or risk; Scope 3 emissions has a different function. Evidence for Scope 3 emissions does not establish Upstream emissions unless both sets of applicable criteria are met.