Our Carbon Footprint Recalculation Policy

Last updated May 2021

Tesco uses 2015/16 as the base year for our carbon footprint. In order to accurately track progress towards our carbon reduction targets, we will adjust our base year emissions inventory to account for significant changes, described below, if the changes drive an increase/decrease in emissions of greater than 5%. We may also choose to recalculate our baseline for changes less than 5%, especially when structural changes occur.

Structural changes

Structural changes include acquisitions, divestures or mergers of businesses or facilities that existed during 2015/16. For example, we no longer report emissions from our businesses in Asia and Poland following their sale and we have adjusted the baseline to reflect this.

Methodology changes

Methodology changes include updated emission factors, improved data access or updated calculation methods or protocols. Emission Factor Updates - We follow the Defra guidance on when to recalculate previous years’ emissions after new emission factors have been released.

Other changes

In addition to structural and methodology changes, we will recalculate our emissions for the following:

• Discovery of a significant error, or a number of cumulative errors.
• Change in our organisational boundary – e.g. if Tesco changed from using an operational control approach to calculate our emissions to a financial control approach.
• Change in our operational boundary – e.g. the inclusion of an additional type of Scope 3 emission, such as emissions associated with the disposal of the waste we produce

When do we adjust our baseline?

At the end of each financial year because it is at this point that we:

1. update our emission factors and these may affect the baseline
2. identify any changes described above that have occurred in the reporting period which may require us to recalculate our base year.

We publicly restate our baseline when we report the latest carbon footprint for the previous financial year.