Emissions Report Schema v0.0.1

The Emissions Report Schema defines the structure for individual emissions reports within the Technology Carbon Standard, including reporting periods, verification status, disclosures, and the technology carbon standard emissions data.

Purpose

The Emissions Report Schema provides:

Schema Information

Schema Structure

{
  "schema_version": "0.0.1",
  "reporting_unit": "UK Operations",
  "reporting_period": {
    "from_date": "2023-01-01",
    "to_date": "2023-12-31"
  },
  "verification": "independently verified",
  "auditor_link": "https://example-auditor.com/",
  "disclosures": [
    {
      "url": "https://example.com/sustainability-report.pdf",
      "doc_type": "report",
      "description": "Annual sustainability report"
    }
  ],
  "tech_carbon_standard": {
    "schema_version": "0.0.1",
    // TCS emissions data
  }
}

Core Fields

Schema Version (required)

Specifies the version of the Emissions Report Schema being used:

"schema_version": "0.0.1"
Field Type Required Description
schema_version string (enum) Yes Must be “0.0.1” for this schema version

Reporting Unit (optional)

Identifies the specific organisational unit for this emissions report:

"reporting_unit": "UK Operations"
Field Type Required Description
reporting_unit string No Sub-organisation group, region, or reporting entity

Use Cases for Reporting Units:

Reporting Period (required)

The timeframe covered by the emissions data:

"reporting_period": {
  "from_date": "2023-01-01",
  "to_date": "2023-12-31"
}
Field Type Required Description
from_date string (date) Yes Start date in ISO8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
to_date string (date) Yes End date in ISO8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)

Date Format Requirements:

Verification (required)

The verification status of the emissions data:

"verification": "independently verified"
Field Type Required Description
verification string (enum) Yes Must be either “self reported” or “independently verified”

Verification Options:

Link to the independent auditor’s website:

"auditor_link": "https://example-auditor.com/"
Field Type Required Description
auditor_link string (URI) Conditional Required when verification is “independently verified”

Conditional Requirement: This field becomes required when verification is set to "independently verified".

Disclosures (optional)

Array of disclosure documents related to the emissions report:

"disclosures": [
  {
    "url": "https://example.com/sustainability-report.pdf",
    "doc_type": "report",
    "description": "Annual sustainability report"
  },
  {
    "url": "https://example.com/carbon-methodology.pdf",
    "doc_type": "methodology",
    "description": "Carbon calculation methodology"
  }
]

Disclosure Object Fields

Field Type Required Description
url string (URI) Yes URL pointing to the disclosure document
doc_type string (enum) Yes Must be “report”, “methodology”, or “other”
description string No Brief description of the disclosure content

Document Types:

Tech Carbon Standard (required)

Contains the actual emissions data structured according to TCS categories:

"tech_carbon_standard": {
  "schema_version": "0.0.1",
  "upstream_emissions": { /* ... */ },
  "direct_emissions": { /* ... */ },
  "indirect_emissions": { /* ... */ },
  "downstream_emissions": { /* ... */ }
}
Field Type Required Description
schema_version string (enum) Yes Version of the Tech Carbon Standard schema

The tech_carbon_standard object is validated against the specified Tech Carbon Standard schema version. Currently supported:

Validation Rules

Required Fields

Conditional Requirements

Additional Properties

Example Document

{
  "schema_version": "0.0.1",
  "reporting_unit": "Global Operations",
  "reporting_period": {
    "from_date": "2023-01-01",
    "to_date": "2023-12-31"
  },
  "verification": "independently verified",
  "auditor_link": "https://pwc.com/sustainability-services",
  "disclosures": [
    {
      "url": "https://scottlogic.cdn.prismic.io/scottlogic/ZrSd7UaF0TcGIxye_EnvironmentalImpactReport2023.pdf",
      "doc_type": "report",
      "description": "Scott Logic 2023 Sustainability Report"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://example.com/carbon-methodology.pdf",
      "doc_type": "methodology",
      "description": "Technology carbon emissions calculation methodology"
    }
  ],
  "tech_carbon_standard": {
    "schema_version": "0.0.1",
    "upstream_emissions": {
      "employee_hardware": {
        "emissions": 55000,
        "notes": "Embodied carbon of purchased laptops and monitors using manufacturer LCA data"
      }
    },
    "direct_emissions": {
      "onsite_employee_hardware": {
        "emissions": 5000,
        "notes": "Office electricity consumption for employee devices",
        "method": "location-based"
      }
    },
    "indirect_emissions": {
      "cloud_services": {
        "emissions": 5000,
        "notes": "AWS and Azure consumption measured using Cloud Carbon Footprinting"
      },
      "saas": {
        "emissions": 84000,
        "notes": "SaaS emissions estimated using spend-based approach"
      }
    },
    "downstream_emissions": {
      "end_user_devices": {
        "emissions": 1000,
        "notes": "Website traffic-based estimate of end-user device emissions"
      }
    }
  }
}

Best Practices

Reporting Periods

Verification

Disclosures

Reporting Units

Common Validation Errors

  1. Invalid date format: Dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format
  2. Missing auditor_link: Required when verification is “independently verified”
  3. Invalid doc_type: Must be exactly “report”, “methodology”, or “other”
  4. Invalid URI format: URLs must be properly formatted URIs
  5. Missing tech_carbon_standard: This object is required for all emissions reports

Resources