Air emissions are a critical focus in sustainability reporting due to their impacts on climate change, air quality, and public health. Facilities can emit a variety of harmful compounds, including greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances, and other hazardous air pollutants. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has developed the GRI 305: Emissions standard to provide a framework for transparency and accountability in emissions disclosures.
What Is the GRI 305 Standard?
GRI 305: Emissions 2016 outlines sustainability reporting requirements for an organization’s emissions-related impacts. It builds on established international agreements, including the Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It closely aligns with protocols such as the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064.
The standard requires disclosure across the three scopes defined by the GHG Protocol:
- Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions from owned or controlled sources
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heating, cooling, or steam
- Scope 3: All other indirect emissions across the value chain
In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, the standard addresses other aspects of sustainability reporting related to a wide range of emissions. That includes ozone-depleting substances and regulated pollutants such as NOx, SOx, VOCs, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and particulate matter (PM).
Applying GRI 305 to disclose air emissions data allows organizations to demonstrate their sustainability, align with climate change goals, and show progress in emissions reductions.
What Are the GRI Guidelines for GRI 305?
The GRI 305 standard includes seven disclosures focusing on various aspects related to an organization’s greenhouse gas accounting and other emissions.
Disclosure 305-1: Direct (Scope 1) GHG Emissions
Disclosure 305-1 requires organizations to report their Scope 1 emissions. This includes emissions released directly from sources owned or controlled by the company. Some common examples of emission sources under this scope include:
- Stationary combustion: boilers, furnaces, turbines, and flaring
- Industrial processes: cement, steel, ammonia, waste processing
- Transportation: trucks, ships, aircraft, and company vehicles
- Fugitive emissions: leaks from equipment seals, methane from coal mines, or refrigerant losses
Organizations must report details concerning their Scope 1 emissions, including:
- Gross direct emissions in metric tons of CO₂ equivalent
- All gases included in the calculation (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆, NF₃)
- Biogenic CO₂ emissions separately
- Base year for calculations and rationale for selection
- Sources of emission factors and GWP rates used
- Consolidation approach (equity share, financial control, operational control)
- Standards, methodologies, assumptions, and calculation tools used
Accepted methodologies for determining emissions include direct measurement, mass balance calculations, site-specific fuel analysis, published emission factors, and continuous online analyzers. GHG trades and carbon credits are excluded when calculating emissions. Biogenic emissions are reported separately.
Disclosure 305-2: Energy Indirect (Scope 2) GHG Emissions
Disclosure 305-2 covers Scope 2 emissions resulting from the generation of purchased electricity, heating, cooling, or steam consumed by the organization. Organizations must disclose:
- Gross location-based emissions (grid-average factors)
- Gross market-based emissions, if applicable (contractual agreements that can include renewable energy certificates or power purchase agreements)
- Base year for calculation, if applicable, the emissions in the base year, and the rationale for selection
- Gases included, emission factors used, and methodologies applied
- Consolidation approach for emissions, whether equity share, financial control, or operational control
Organizations can apply the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance to facilitate calculations, avoid double-counting, and ensure that contractual instruments convey GHG emission rate claims.
Disclosure 305-3: Other Indirect (Scope 3) GHG Emissions
Disclosure 305-3 includes Scope 3 emissions that encompass upstream and downstream sources not owned or directly controlled by the organization.
Organizations must report:
- Gross Scope 3 emissions in metric tons of CO₂ equivalent
- Categories included in the calculation
- If available, the gases included in the calculation, whether CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆, NF₃
- Biogenic CO₂ emissions separately
- Base year, emission factors, and methodologies
Scope 3 disclosure requires evaluating relevance, significance, reduction potential, regulatory risks, and stakeholder concerns. Many organizations face challenges here due to supply chain complexity and a lack of direct control.
Disclosure 305-4: GHG Emissions Intensity
Disclosure 305-4 requires organizations to calculate a GHG intensity ratio that divides their absolute emissions by a chosen organizational metric. Common organizational metrics include:
- Metric tons of product output
- Sales revenue or financial turnover
- Facility size or floor space
- Number of employees
Organizations must also clarify which scopes and specific greenhouse gases are included in their ratio. If Scope 3 intensity ratios are calculated, they must be reported separately.
Intensity ratios allow for meaningful comparison of emissions both over time and across an organization’s industry. Organizations can also provide breakdowns by business unit, country, type of source, or activity for greater transparency.
Disclosure 305-5: Reduction of GHG Emissions
Disclosure 305-5 focuses on an organization’s initiatives to reduce GHG emissions and their level of success. Key details include:
- GHG emissions reduced as a direct result of reduction initiatives in metric tons of CO₂ equivalent
- Gases included in the calculation
- Scopes in which reductions took place
- Base year or baseline and rationale for choosing it
- Standards, methodologies, and assumptions used
This disclosure excludes reductions resulting from reduced production capacity or outsourcing. Organizations must also report reductions from offsets separately. Reduction initiatives can include:
- Process redesign
- Conversion and retrofitting of equipment
- Fuel switching
- Changes in behavior
- Offsets
Organizations can use either an inventory or a project method to evaluate emissions reductions. The inventory method compares current emissions to a base year, while the project method compares emissions to a defined baseline scenario.
Disclosure 305-6: Emissions of Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS)
Disclosure 305-6 requires organizations to report emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), which is critical for industries using refrigerants, halons, or specialty chemicals. Organizations must disclose:
- Production, imports, and exports of ODS in metric tons of CFC-11 equivalent
- Substances included in the calculation
- Emission factors used
- Standards, methodologies, and assumptions applied
The production of ODS can be calculated as:
Production of ODS = ODS Produced - ODS Destroyed - ODS Used as Feedstock
Companies should exclude ODS recycled and reused from this calculation. This disclosure should cover substances included in Annexes A, B, C, and E of the Montreal Protocol, along with any other ODS.
Disclosure 305-7: Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Oxides (SOx), and Other Significant Air Emissions
Disclosure 305-7 includes reporting requirements for a variety of air pollutants. Organizations must disclose any significant emissions for each of the following:
- NOx
- SOx
- Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)
- Particulate matter (PM)
- Other standard categories of air emissions identified in relevant regulations
The disclosure must also include the emissions factors, standards, methodologies, assumptions, and calculation tools used.
Organizations must select one of the following approaches for calculating significant air emissions:
- Direct measurement of emissions
- Calculation based on site-specific data
- Calculation based on published emission factors
- Estimation, where the organization must indicate the basis on which figures were estimated
The air pollutants covered by this disclosure align closely with various reporting requirements under the EPA and corresponding agencies in other countries. An organization that completes annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), National Emissions Inventory (NEI), or National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) reporting likely already has all required data on hand.
Is Your Team Prepared for GRI 305 Disclosure?
GRI 305 requires organizations to provide data on a variety of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. Ensuring that you have complete and accurate data can be difficult, especially when navigating approved emissions factors and calculations. However, having a solution in place will let your team demonstrate its sustainability efforts, maintain compliance, and work toward emissions reductions.
ERA provides a variety of software solutions that can suit your emissions management needs. Our Air Emissions Management Software is a comprehensive solution to track and calculate emissions from all sources and generate an extensive range of reports. In other cases, our Corporate Sustainability Software could be the perfect choice to handle your sustainability disclosures, with integrated GHG accounting and more.
You can talk with one of our project analysts to find the right match for your unique needs and tackle any of your environmental and sustainability needs. Schedule a call today to get started.
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