Achieving Emissions Assurance: Supporting a Financial Firm’s Commitment to Sustainability

A financial services and insurance company, our Client, has partnered with our Carbon and Client Accounting team since 2022 to enhance their sustainability initiatives. Initially, the Client sought our assistance in calculating their Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and over time, this engagement expanded to include Scope 3 emissions from business travel. Our team has been instrumental in providing assurance-ready inventories, enabling the Client to achieve limited assurance on their emissions data since 2022.

One of the main challenges faced by the Client was meeting the data quality requirements necessary for limited assurance. These requirements included a specific threshold for data sourcing—most notably, a restriction on the amount of data that could be estimated, with a preference for data from primary sources. Given that the Client operates over 70 facilities, collecting data from every site was not currently feasible, making it difficult to meet the assurance criteria across all locations.

To address these challenges, our team collaborated closely with the Client to identify and prioritize the facilities that would have the greatest impact on reducing estimated emissions and increasing the proportion of data sourced from primary inputs. This targeted approach ensured that their inventory could meet the necessary requirements for limited assurance, despite the data collection limitations.

Recognizing the need to improve the overall data collection process and streamline the assurance timeline, we proposed an adjustment to the Client’s project schedule. Instead of conducting data collection and review in a single phase, as is typical, we split the process into two 6-month intervals. This adjustment allowed for a more thorough data review and additional time for data collection at key facilities, without impacting the final assurance deadline.

To implement this change effectively, our team engaged in discussions with the Client’s internal team and their auditors. We worked together to finalize a timeline that would accommodate the additional review steps, ensuring that all processes would still align with the Client’s deadlines for assurance completion.

The revised approach resulted in a fully audit-ready inventory and a comprehensive inventory management plan. This allowed the Client to continue tracking their emissions reductions accurately and to report their progress publicly. The assurance support provided by our team ensured that the emissions data met the necessary quality standards, enabling the Client to publicly disclose that the data had received limited assurance.

This outcome not only improved the Client’s ability to report their sustainability progress with confidence, but it also demonstrated their commitment to transparent, reliable environmental practices. Ultimately, our partnership enabled the Client to enhance their sustainability reporting and meet industry standards for emissions data assurance.