ESG Data Guide 2025

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Iceberg Data Lab - Avoided Carbon Emissions

Data category

The data offers solutions for:

Who are the data users?

Brief description of the data offering

Avoided carbon emissions represent the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company, project, product, or portfolio, helps prevent when compared to a typical, higher-carbon alternative. This is measured as the difference between actual emissions and the emissions that would have occurred in a “business as usual” scenario.⁠⁠⁠⁠​
 
For example, insulation materials in the construction sector avoid emissions by reducing the energy needed for heating and cooling buildings, compared to less efficient alternatives.⁠⁠​
 
The unit used is typically tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2eq). Avoided emissions can be reported for individual companies or aggregated across portfolios for a total sector or investment product.⁠⁠⁠⁠​
 
The methodology for avoided emissions generally accounts for:
 
The type of activity or product (such as renewable energy production, energy efficiency improvements, etc.)
 
The reference scenario (what would have happened without the intervention/product)
 
The lifespan and usage phase impacts (e.g., emissions savings over the use phase of a building component)⁠

Where and how do you source your data?

Company-reported data and sustainability reports, when available and reliable. If company data is not available or incomplete, IDL models the data using sector, commodity, and geography-specific parameters.⁠⁠​
 
Open-source databases provided by governments, central banks, and scientific organizations.⁠⁠​
 
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) databases and financial/environmental datasets for product-level impacts.⁠⁠​
 
Physical flows and input-output models (such as their proprietary Wunderpus model) to estimate emissions through the entire value chain, covering scopes 1, 2, and 3 for high granularity and sector comparability.⁠⁠⁠⁠​
 
Independent scientific studies and internationally recognized frameworks (e.g., IPCC, IEA, SBTi, TNFD, PBAF) for methodologies and benchmark data.⁠

What is the cost for your data offering?

Pricing depends on coverage requirements, and can be provided upon request at [email protected]

Contacts

[email protected]