Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

While many real estate companies have been reporting and managing emissions in scope 1 and 2, scope 3 emissions remain underreported. The real estate industry accounts for 29 per cent of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union, where most of their emissions stems from scope 3. Thus, managing scope 3 emissions creates a significant opportunity for real estate companies to reduce GHG emissions and prevent negative impacts on the climate. Scope 3 emissions are currently voluntary to report on, and previous research has shown that scope 3 emissions are challenging to measure and manage. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute with new knowledge on the management of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in scope 3. A qualitative case study on six Swedish real estate companies that are reporting scope 3 emissions were conducted to address the research aim. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thereafter analysed. The findings shows that companies are reporting on scope 3 emissions for various reasons such as market expectations, laws, and regulations, demands from the financial sector and a willingness to make a change that will lead to reduced GHG emissions. The findings also shows that Swedish real estate companies use internal management systems such as policies, calculations and KPIs and external management systems such as guidelines and tools to manage scope 3 emissions. However, to fully use the management control systems, companies are depending on other actors in their value chain. To manage scope 3 emissions, this case study shows that companies seek to collaborate with their tenants and suppliers as much as possible. The study concludes that managing GHG emissions in scope 3 is challenging because the scope goes beyond the organisational boundaries, which has consequences for collecting data on GHG emissions and the quality of data for analysing emissions within this scope. Given that the scope cuts across multiple organisational boundaries it requires collaboration with other actors in the value chain, which requires new ways for companies to manage GHG emissions.