Navigating New Norms: The Crucial Role of Rebaselining in Sustainable Reporting

For organizations striving towards sustainable goals, understanding and monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is pivotal. The foundation of this journey often begins with establishing a "baseline year," which serves as the reference point against which all future progress is measured.

However, as businesses evolve, so does the context of their emissions. New emission categories might be added, or methodologies might change, necessitating a “rebaselining” of that baseline year. This article will dive into the practice of "rebaselining" - recalibrating those foundational metrics to ensure accurate, meaningful, and consistent GHG reporting.

The Significance of a Baseline Year

The baseline year is more than just a historical data point; it's a commitment. It provides a snapshot in time, against which all emission reduction achievements are compared. By setting this standardized foundation, organizations ensure that year-over-year comparisons are consistent, enabling them to track genuine progress over time.

Below is an example where the ‘baseline year’ is 2019, which represents 100% of emissions. As such, when an organization has set a target of 46% reduction in emissions by 2030, this is a reduction of 46% from the 2019 emissions total.

Aligning Rebaselining with Realities

As the business world is ever-changing, so is its environmental impact. Rebaselining is about adjusting that baseline to reflect significant changes within an organization. As companies grow, merge, diversify, or even shrink, their carbon footprints change in tandem. Rebaselining ensures that foundational metrics are adjusted, guaranteeing that any reported GHG reduction is true to the company's current structure and activities. This is backed by the GHG Protocol which states that the purpose of rebaselining is to ensure “meaningful and accurate comparison of emissions data over time”.

The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) Perspective

The SBTi is leading the charge on establishing clear and science-backed guidelines for GHG emissions and underscores rebaselining's importance. They recommend that organizations revisit and recalibrate their baseline when there's a 5% or more change in the base-year emissions. This diligence ensures that emission reports remain genuine, transparent, and aligned with science-based targets.

When Organizations Should Consider Rebaselining

While the SBTi offers a clear guidance to rebaseline when there’s a 5% or more change in the base-year emissions, rebaselining needs can arise from various scenarios. Below are a selection of the key criteria which can trigger the need for rebaselining, as set out by the GHG Protocol:

*Significant or major adjustments are typically those that lead to a 5-10% change in total of the category of emission, e.g. a change in methodology that leads to total emissions for business travel going from 100tCO2e to 110tCO2e.

Steps to Crafting a Robust Rebaselining Strategy

Although it can seem like a daunting task, we’ve broken down the steps to make the process more approachable:

For Sustainability Managers:

- Build the policy foundation: Establish a clear base-year review and recalculation policy.

- Document everything: Clearly define and document the baseline year and its GHG emissions.

- Establish transparency: Document, report, and communicate any recalculations, ensuring stakeholders understand the triggers.

- Stay updated: Continuously verify the base-year GHG inventory (overall carbon emissions footprint) to guarantee its accuracy and relevance.