Organizational carbon inventory has become a fundamental task for enterprises to participate in carbon market compliance, apply for green projects, and meet low-carbon supply chain requirements.
However, many enterprises still confuse "carbon inventory" with "carbon emission accounting"—in fact, they have an "inclusion relationship": carbon emission accounting is the core link of carbon inventory, while carbon inventory is a more systematic "preparatory action for carbon management". It not only requires calculating emissions accurately, but also defining boundaries, sorting out emission sources, and analyzing carbon reduction potential, which can be called an enterprise's "carbon health check".

The official definition of organizational carbon inventory is: a process in which an enterprise or institution, in accordance with unified standards, comprehensively counts the total greenhouse gas emissions and emission sources directly/indirectly generated from operational activities within a fixed time period (usually 1 year) and identifies carbon reduction potential.
Its accounting must follow authoritative standards to avoid invalid data due to "self-made rules":
• International standards: Prioritize reference to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), which clearly divides Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; ISO 14064-1 can also be adopted for enterprises requiring internationally recognized reports;
• Domestic standards: Controlled enterprises must implement industry guidelines issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment/National Development and Reform Commission (e.g., Guidelines for the Accounting and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Power Generation Industry); non-controlled enterprises can refer to the Guidelines for the Accounting and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Enterprises - General Requirements.
The three major emission scopes covered by accounting must be accurately defined:
• Scope 1 (Direct Emissions)：Emission sources owned or controlled by the enterprise, including fuel combustion (e.g., coal for boilers, fuel for on-site vehicles), direct emissions from production processes (e.g., steelmaking in steel plants, methane leakage in chemical plants), and waste disposal (e.g., methane from landfills);
• Scope 2 (Energy Indirect Emissions)：Only refers to emissions from the production of purchased electricity, heat, and steam, with data based on electricity bills from power companies and heat supply documents;
• Scope 3 (Value Chain Indirect Emissions)：Covers emissions from upstream and downstream not included in Scopes 1 and 2, such as raw material procurement and transportation, employee business travel, and downstream use/disposal of products. This part usually accounts for the highest proportion, and enterprises can choose whether to include it in the first inventory as needed (recommended for export-oriented enterprises or those with carbon neutrality goals).

Combined with enterprises' actual needs, organizational carbon inventory can be simplified into the following core steps, balancing efficiency and accuracy:
1.Define Basic Conditions：Determine the inventory boundary (legal person or operational boundary) and emission scope, and select a base year with complete data and stable production (new enterprises can choose the first year of production);
2.Collect Source Data：Focus on core emissions from Scopes 1 and 2, collect original documents such as fuel procurement invoices, electricity bills, and production accounts to ensure data traceability;
3.Standardize Accounting and Analysis：Select accounting methods and official emission factors in accordance with corresponding standards, complete emission calculations, and identify high-emission links simultaneously;
4.Compile Report and Verification：Organize and form an inventory report including emission lists, data sources, and carbon reduction potential. Enterprises participating in the carbon market or applying for projects must complete third-party verification as required.

For precursor materials (relevant raw materials) within the scope of CBAM regulation, the verification requirements are consistent with those of the main products, and the core judgment basis is still the calculation method:
• If "actual values" are used to calculate the carbon emissions of precursor materials, it is necessary to obtain third-party verification certificates for the materials to ensure the integrity and compliance of the supply chain data chain.
• If compliant verification certificates cannot be provided, EU official default values must be used for calculation, which may lead to higher overall carbon emission calculation results.
• If the default values for precursor materials provided by the EU are used directly, no additional verification documents need to be prepared, and they can be used directly for declaration.

Organizational carbon inventory is prone to pitfalls such as incorrect boundary definition, lack of supporting documents for data, and improper use of emission factors. Based on in-depth understanding of domestic standards and GHG Protocol, SKYCO2 provides targeted support:
• Assist in defining inventory boundaries and scopes, and matching industry-specific accounting guidelines;
• Guide data collection and traceability, provide standardized data recording forms, and ensure compliance with third-party verification requirements;
• Identify high-emission links based on accounting results and output implementable carbon reduction suggestions;
• Connect with carbon market compliance and ESG disclosure needs to ensure the inventory report is compliant and usable.
If you are worried about carbon inventory boundary definition, data collection, or third-party verification, please feel free to contact SKYCO2. Let professional services help your enterprise clarify its "carbon baseline" and steadily advance low-carbon transformation.