FIRST CARBON BASELINE

Build your first carbon baseline without building a large sustainability team

Create an initial Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory, identify relevant Scope 3 categories, document data gaps and establish a carbon-accounting process your team can improve over time.

Plan your first baseline
OCEANS™ Sustainability is in active product development. Access is currently limited to founding design partners. Apply to the Founding Design Partner Program to review early workflows and help shape the product.
Illustrative lean team using OCEANS™ Sustainability to define boundaries, collect data, calculate emissions, review evidence, and present a first baseline Illustrative product view. Example data shown.

Start with the data you have. Document what is missing. Improve with every reporting cycle.

See how OCEANS™ Sustainability works
  1. Define boundaries
  2. Collect data
  3. Calculate emissions
  4. Review evidence
  5. Present results

Your company is being asked for emissions information. Where do you begin?

The request might come from a customer, an RFP, leadership, an investor or lender, a reporting need, or a supply-chain partner. Wherever it started, it becomes a practical planning conversation.

A customer request
An RFP question
A leadership or board request
An investor or lender request
A reporting need
A supply-chain partner request
Illustrative first-baseline readiness assessment covering the trigger, audience, period, entities, available data, likely categories, owners, and known gaps Illustrative product view. Example data shown.
AudienceReporting periodEntities in scopeAvailable dataLikely categoriesOwnersTiming considerationsKnown gaps

Who it is for

Designed for companies beginning their carbon-accounting journey

Calculating for the first time

No existing emissions inventory to build from.

Data spread across departments

Records live with finance, facilities, operations, and others.

A lean or part-time team

No dedicated sustainability department, or a very small one.

Needing help identifying sources

Unsure which records and categories actually matter.

Wanting repeatability

Looking for a process to reuse, not a one-time spreadsheet.

Needing explainable results

A baseline that can be defended when someone asks about it.

Illustrative responsibility map for sustainability, finance, operations, procurement, facilities, travel, logistics, and legal contributors Illustrative product view. Example data shown.
SustainabilityFinanceOperationsProcurementFacilitiesTravel & logisticsLegal & complianceLeadership

OCEANS™ Sustainability supports coordination across these contributors — ownership of the baseline remains with your organization.

You do not need perfect data to begin

Most organizations start with bills, invoices, ledgers, travel records, waste reports, freight statements, supplier files, and reasonable estimates:

  • Bills and invoices
  • Ledgers
  • Travel records
  • Waste reports
  • Freight statements
  • Supplier files
  • Reasonable estimates
Illustrative OCEANS™ Sustainability workspace organizing existing business records into baseline data with visible gaps and estimates Illustrative product view. Example data shown.
01 Identify available information
02 Determine relevance
03 Document important gaps
04 Make estimates visible
05 Preserve supporting evidence
06 Plan improvements

A useful first baseline should be transparent about its limitations—not pretend uncertainty does not exist.

How it works

A guided path to your first emissions inventory

Illustrative six-stage first-baseline workflow with data coverage, owners, open requests, missing items, and decisions required Illustrative product view. Example data shown.
  1. 01

    Define the objective

    Purpose, audience, and reporting period.

  2. 02

    Establish boundaries

    Entities, facilities, operations, and included sources.

  3. 03

    Map available data

    Locate records and owners across the business.

  4. 04

    Calculate emissions

    Use documented methods and factors for supported Scope 1, 2, and relevant Scope 3 activities.

  5. 05

    Review evidence and assumptions

    Inspect source records, estimates, exclusions, and unresolved gaps.

  6. 06

    Present the baseline

    Summarize emissions, categories, methods, limitations, and next steps.

Understand emissions across your operations and value chain

Illustrative Scope 1, Scope 2, and relevant Scope 3 baseline assessment with entity, facility, period, and category relevance Illustrative product view. Example data shown.

Scope 1

Direct emissions

Emissions from sources owned or controlled by your organization.

  • Stationary fuel combustion
  • Company-owned vehicles
  • Refrigerant leakage
  • Process emissions

Scope 2

Purchased energy

Emissions associated with purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling.

  • Purchased electricity
  • Purchased steam
  • Purchased heating
  • Purchased cooling

Relevant Scope 3

Value-chain emissions

Upstream and downstream categories relevant to your business and available information.

  • Purchased goods and services
  • Capital goods
  • Fuel- and energy-related activities
  • Business travel
  • Waste generated in operations

Relevant Scope 3 categories are selected based on your operations, available information, potential materiality, and reporting objectives. Not every category is equally relevant to every organization.

Start with what you have

Your existing business records become the foundation

  • Utilities
  • Fuel
  • Refrigerants
  • Procurement and general ledger
  • Travel
  • Employee commuting
  • Freight and logistics
  • Waste
  • Supplier information
  • Facility information
  • Organizational information

More than a single emissions number

A transparent starting point.

Illustrative OCEANS™ Sustainability First Carbon Baseline report and supporting deliverables for inventory, methods, evidence, data gaps, hotspots, and next steps Illustrative report example. Example data shown.
  • Structured emissions inventory
  • Documented calculation methods
  • Connected supporting evidence
  • Data-gap register
  • Emissions-hotspot view
  • Stakeholder-ready summary
  • Repeatable next-cycle process

Understand what is measured, estimated, and still missing

Illustrative baseline transparency workspace showing data types, evidence coverage, assumptions, limitations, owners, and improvement actions Illustrative product view. Example data shown.

Primary activity data

Measured directly from your own operations.

Supplier-provided data

Given directly by a supplier or partner.

Secondary data

Drawn from an external reference dataset.

Spend-based estimates

Calculated from spend using an average factor.

Extrapolated values

Inferred from a related, available data point.

Missing information

Not yet available, and documented as a gap.

This makes the baseline easier to explain and creates a practical roadmap for improving it.

Turn your first baseline into a business decision tool

Illustrative first-baseline insights showing emissions hotspots, data-quality priorities, supplier candidates, readiness, and practical next actions Illustrative product view. Example data shown.
Identify major sourcesPrioritize better data collectionRespond to requestsSupport planningEngage suppliersPrepare for later reporting

Why OCEANS™ Sustainability

A practical alternative to spreadsheets and enterprise complexity

Guided from the beginning

A structured starting point instead of a blank spreadsheet.

Structured for repeatability

Built to be reused for the next reporting period, not just this one.

Transparent by design

Gaps and estimates stay visible instead of hidden.

Built for lean teams

Designed for organizations without a large sustainability department.

Ready to improve

A foundation you can strengthen with every cycle.

Enterprise-grade discipline for companies beginning their carbon-accounting journey.

Choose a baseline process you can continue using

ApproachCommon limitationWith OCEANS™ Sustainability
SpreadsheetsDifficult to trace and repeatA structured calculation workflow
Consultant-only projectKnowledge may remain outside your teamSoftware plus guided implementation
Basic online calculatorLimited organizational detail or evidenceConnected data, calculations, and records
Enterprise platformMay require significant resources and complexityA focused approach built for lean teams

What determines the baseline timeline?

Timing depends on your organizational structure, data availability, reporting period, relevant Scope 3 coverage, and internal review — not a fixed schedule.

  • Entities and facilities in scope
  • Categories to include
  • Available and missing data
  • Owners across the business
  • Calculation approaches
  • Priorities
  • Delivery plan
Assess your baseline readiness
Illustrative first-baseline workshop defining objectives, boundaries, records, relevant sources, data gaps, owners, calculation approach, review milestones, and delivery plan Illustrative product view. Example data shown.

A practical first-baseline plan, built with your team

OCEANS™ Sustainability works with your contributors to define objectives and boundaries, map available records, identify relevant sources, document gaps, agree on methods, assign owners, plan review, and establish a practical delivery approach covering:

  • Objectives and boundaries
  • Available records
  • Relevant sources
  • Data gaps
  • Methods and owners
  • Review plan

Frequently asked questions

Where to go next

Solutions overviewFind your starting point among five common situations.Replace spreadsheet reportingMove from scattered files to one structured workspace.Manage Scope 3 and supplier dataCollect value-chain data without chasing every supplier by email.Respond to customer requestsReuse validated data instead of rebuilding it for each request.Product carbon footprintsOrganize footprint data at the product or product-line level.Evaluate supplier decarbonization optionsCompare sourcing, material, and logistics changes against a documented baseline.Respond to an EcoVadis or OEM questionnaireGet a source-linked EcoVadis Environment or OEM response package in 10 business days.

Current availability

OCEANS™ Sustainability is in active product development. Access is currently limited to founding design partners — the workflow, screens, and outcomes described on this page are the design in progress, and any product screens shown are an illustrative preview of planned functionality. Guides, checklists, and the calculator elsewhere on this site are real and available now. Apply as a founding design partner to help test and shape this workflow as it is built.

Take the first step toward a credible carbon baseline

Tell us what prompted your carbon-accounting journey. We will help you understand the information required, the likely data gaps, and a practical path forward.

Plan your first baseline Discuss Your Workflow