Customer Carbon Footprint Tool Expands: Additional emissions categories including Scope 3 are now available

Since it launched in 2022, the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (CCFT) has supported our customers’ sustainability journey to track, measure, and review their carbon emissions by providing the estimated carbon emissions associated with their usage of Amazon Web Services (AWS) services.

In April, we made major updates in the CCFT, including easier access to carbon emissions data, visibility into emissions by AWS Region, inclusion of location-based emissions (LBM), an updated, independently-verified methodology as well as moving to a dedicated page in the AWS Billing console.

The CCFT is informed by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol’s classification of emissions, which classifies a company’s emissions. Today, we’re announcing the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions data and an update to Scope 1 emissions in the CCFT. The new emission categories complement the existing Scope 1 and 2 data, and they’ll give our customers a comprehensive look into their carbon emissions data.

In this updated methodology we incorporate new emissions categories. We’ve added Scope 1 refrigerants and natural gas, alongside the existing Scope 1 emissions from fuel combustion in emergency backup generators (diesel). Although Scope 1 emissions represent a small share of overall emissions, we provide our customers with a complete image of their carbon emissions.

To decide which categories of Scope 3 to include in our model we looked at how material each of them were to the overall carbon impact and confirmed the vast majority of emissions were represented. With that in mind, the methodology now includes:

• Fuel- and energy-related activities (“FERA” under the GHG Protocol) – This includes upstream emissions from purchased fuels, upstream emissions of purchased electricity, and transmission and distribution (T&D) losses. AWS calculates these emissions using both LBM and the market-based method (MBM).

• IT hardware – AWS uses a comprehensive cradle-to-gate approach that tracks emissions from raw material extraction through manufacturing and transportation to AWS data centers. We use four calculation pathways: process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) with engineering attributes, extrapolation, representative category average LCA, and economic input-output LCA. AWS prioritizes the most detailed and accurate methods for components that contribute significantly to overall emissions.

• Buildings and equipment – AWS follows established whole building life cycle assessment (wbLCA) standards, considering emissions from construction, use, and end-of-life phases. The analysis covers data center shells, rooms, and long-lead equipment such as air handling units and generators. The methodology uses both process-based life cycle assessment models and economic input-output analysis to provide comprehensive coverage.

The Scope 3 emissions are then amortized over the assets’ service life (6 years for IT hardware, 50 years for buildings) to calculate monthly emissions that can be allocated to customers. This amortization means that we fairly distribute the total embodied carbon of each asset across its operational lifetime, accounting for scenarios such as early retirement or extended use.

All these updates are part of methodology version 3.0.0 and are explained in detail in our methodology document, which has been independently verified by a third party.

How to access the CCFT
To get started, go to the AWS Billing and Cost Management console and choose Customer Carbon Footprint Tool under Cost and Usage Analysis. You can access your carbon emissions data in the dashboard, download a csv file, or export all data using basic SQL and visualize your data by integrating with AWS Data Exports and Amazon Quick Sight.

To ensure you can make meaningful year-over-year comparisons, we’ve recalculated historical data back to January 2022 using version 3 of the methodology. All the data displayed in the CCFT now uses version 3. To see historical data using v3, choose Create custom data export. A new data export now includes new columns breaking down emissions by Scope 1, 2, and 3.

You can see estimated AWS emissions and estimated emissions savings. The tool shows emissions calculated using the MBM for 38 months of data by default. You can find your emissions calculated using the LBM by choosing LBM in the Calculation method filter on the dashboard. The unit of measurement for carbon emissions is metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e), an industry-standard measure.

In the Carbon emissions summary, it shows trends of your carbon emissions over time. You can also find emissions resulting from your usage of AWS services and across all AWS Regions. To learn more, visit Viewing your carbon footprint in the AWS documentation.

Voice of the customer
Some of our customers had early access to these updates. This is what they shared with us:

Sunya Norman, senior vice president, Impact at Salesforce shared “Effective decarbonization begins with visibility into our carbon footprint, especially in Scope 3 emissions. Industry averages are only a starting point. The granular carbon data we get from cloud providers like AWS are critical to helping us better understand the actual emissions associated with our cloud infrastructure and focus reductions where they matter most.”

Gerhard Loske, Head of Environmental Management at SAP said “The latest updates to the CCFT are a big step forward in helping us managing SAP’s sustainability goals. With new Region-specific data, we can now see better where emissions are coming from and take targeted action. The upcoming addition of Scope 3 emissions will give us a much fuller picture of our carbon footprint across AWS workloads. These improvements make it easier for us to turn data into meaningful climate action.”

Pinterest’s Global Sustainability Lead, Mia Ketterling highlighted the benefits of the Scope 3 emission data, saying, “By including Scope 3 emissions data in their CCFT, AWS empowers customers like Pinterest to more accurately measure and report the full carbon footprint of our digital operations. Enhanced transparency helps us drive meaningful climate action across our value chain.”

If you’re attending AWS re:Invent in person in December, join technical leaders from AWS, Adobe, and Salesforce as they reveal how the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool supports their environmental initiatives.

Now available
With Scope 1, 2, and 3 coverage in the CCFT, you can track your emissions over time to understand how you’re trending towards your sustainability goals and see the impact of any carbon reduction projects you’ve implemented. To learn more, visit the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (CCFT) page.

Give these new features a try in the AWS Billing and Cost Management console and send feedback to AWS re:Post for the CCFT or through your usual AWS Support contacts.

— Channy