Jackdaw
Carbon Footprint 2024 Baseline
Measuring our first year.
The greenhouse gas emissions of Jackdaw, measured in full for the 2023–24 reporting year and set as our baseline.
The headline
The difference is our electricity: a REGO-backed renewable tariff brings the market-based figure to zero, against the grid-average location-based figure.
For the year to 30 November 2024, Jackdaw's total greenhouse gas emissions were 2.300 tonnes of CO₂e (market-based). This is a small footprint, and an unusually even one: it splits almost equally three ways — business travel, home-office heating, and purchased digital services — with everything else a minor tail. As a home-based, one-person consultancy, we have no owned premises or vehicles, and our renewable electricity tariff removes grid emissions from the headline figure. This year is our baseline — the fixed reference point for measuring reductions from here.
Emissions by scope
| Scope | Category | tCO₂e |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Direct — home-office heating (apportioned) & refrigerant | 0.762 |
| Scope 2 | Electricity — market-based (REGO-backed renewable tariff) | 0.000 |
| Scope 2 | Electricity — location-based (grid average), disclosed | 0.118 |
| Scope 3 | Indirect — travel, purchased services, waste, water, T&D | 1.538 |
| Total | Market-based | 2.300 |
Scope 2 is reported on both bases in line with the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance. The market-based figure (0) is the headline; the location-based figure (0.118 t) is disclosed and held outside the total.
Intensity metrics
Absolute emissions will rise if the business grows, so we also track efficiency — emissions relative to the size of the business.
Where it comes from
Three sources make up 95% of the footprint, in near-equal thirds. The remainder — waste, transmission losses, water and refrigerant — is small.
Business travel (0.767 t) is the largest single category, almost entirely the diesel car (0.731 t) used for in-person client meetings — the reason the switch to a motorbike matters. Home-office heating (0.762 t) is a close second: the apportioned share of the rented property's oil heating. Purchased services (0.669 t) is spend-based — professional services, PR, digital tools and telecoms. The waste tail (0.089 t) is dominated by general landfill.
The detail
Scope 1 — heating & refrigerant · 0.762 t
Jackdaw works from a 35 m² home office in rented accommodation. 20% of the property's oil heating (kerosene) and appliances is apportioned to the business. The fridge refrigerant is counted conservatively at its full charge (0.0001 t) — immaterial. Heating dominates this scope.
Scope 2 — electricity · 0.000 t market / 0.118 t location
| Basis | kWh | tCO₂e |
|---|---|---|
| Renewable tariff — market-based (headline) | 570.4 | 0.000 |
| Grid average — location-based (disclosed) | 570.4 | 0.118 |
570.4 kWh is the 20% business share of domestic electricity. Both figures use the same consumption; the tariff is REGO-backed, so the market-based figure is zero.
Scope 3 — indirect · 1.538 t
| Category | tCO₂e |
|---|---|
| Business travel — car, rail, motorbike | 0.767 |
| Purchased goods & services (spend-based) | 0.669 |
| Waste — landfill & recycling | 0.089 |
| Transmission & distribution losses | 0.010 |
| Water — supply & treatment | 0.003 |
| Capital goods (owned equipment) | 0.000 |
| Employee commuting | n/a |
| Total Scope 3 | 1.538 |
Purchased goods & services — the breakdown · 0.669 t
Purchased goods & services is the third-largest category, spread across six spend areas. Advertising & PR and computing/hosting lead, followed by accounting and telecoms.
Methodology & boundary
Emissions are calculated in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, using the UK Government DESNZ/DEFRA GHG Conversion Factors 2024 (the set covering the majority of the reporting period). Scope 2 is reported on both a market-based and location-based basis per the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015).
The organisational boundary is Jackdaw (Company No. 12988760), a single entity, under the operational control approach. As a home-based sole practitioner, home-office use of domestic oil, electricity, water and general waste is apportioned to the business at 20% (packaging waste at 50%); business travel and purchased services at 100%. Purchased goods & services (Scope 3, Category 1) are estimated on a spend basis using Climatiq spend-based emission factors (kgCO₂e per £), derived from environmentally-extended input-output (EEIO) data and mapped to standard product categories — a screening-level method to be refined with activity- and supplier-specific data in future years. Each factor and its category mapping are recorded in the workbook. Employee commuting and upstream/downstream distribution are not applicable to a home-based digital consultancy.
Assessor's statement
The calculated total of 2.300 tCO₂e (market-based) is a robust and representative estimate of Jackdaw's emissions for the year to 30 November 2024, across Scope 1, Scope 2 and the principal Scope 3 categories feasible to measure. Every emission factor traces to the published DEFRA 2024 workbook. This assessment is based on internally held records — invoices, statements, mileage and spend — and has not been independently audited. It provides a fair and defensible basis for year-on-year reduction tracking.
Commitment to Net Zero
Jackdaw is committed to measuring and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, and to reaching Net Zero by 2030. As a home-based, one-person consultancy, we reduce hard on what we control, and we are transparent about what we do not.
- Reach Net Zero by 2030, with interim targets and a reduction trajectory set out in our Carbon Reduction Plan.
- Cut emissions at source across our three largest sources — business travel, home-office heating and purchased services.
- Be transparent about the emissions we cannot fully control as a tenant — chiefly the rented property's heating — and reduce them as far as we are able.
- Report total emissions annually and transparently against this baseline year.
- Improve data quality each year, moving purchased services from spend-based towards activity- and supplier-specific measurement.
Full targets, projects and governance are set out in Jackdaw's Carbon Reduction Plan, published alongside this report.
Disclaimer. This report has been prepared for Jackdaw Sustainability Consulting Ltd in accordance with the UK Government's Environmental Reporting Guidelines and the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. Jackdaw has taken all reasonable care to ensure that the facts stated herein are true and accurate in all material respects. No liability of any kind is assumed by Jackdaw Sustainability Consulting Ltd or its director in respect of any opinions, projections, assumptions or other information contained in this report. Figures are stated in tonnes to three decimal places; spend-based estimates carry greater uncertainty than activity- or supplier-specific data and will be progressively refined.
Ethical AI statement. This report was prepared with the help of AI tools, used to organise and check data against published emission factors and to assist with drafting. Every figure traces to source records and the published DEFRA/DESNZ conversion factors, and all content was reviewed and approved by a person before publication. AI is used here as a tool under human oversight — never as the decision-maker — and the underlying data was kept private and not used to train AI models. Jackdaw is committed to transparent, accountable and human-led AI.