How to measure your climate impact

6 minute read • Last published: 25 February 2025

Understanding and managing your carbon footprint is essential in today's increasingly eco-conscious world. The VisitScotland climate impact guide is a first step, providing a comprehensive framework for tracking emissions in key areas such as energy consumption, waste management, and business travel.

This guide will help you establish a baseline, identify cost-saving opportunities, and monitor your progress. It's a good starting point for those new to carbon accounting or looking to enhance their current practices, serving as a vital tool in your roadmap towards better sustainability.

Why measure your climate impact?

Sustainability is vital for Scottish tourism businesses. Travellers are become increasingly eco-conscious and embracing sustainability is an opportunity to attract these customers, while helping preserve the environment and even increase your profits.

Logging data in the Climate Impact Guide helps your business:

Establish a baseline
Understand your current climate impact and identify areas for improvement.
Make informed decisions
Target high-impact areas, like energy use or transportation, to make adjustment which will yield maximum energy savings.
Track progress
Measure the effectiveness of your sustainability efforts over time.
Save costs
Identify inefficiencies to reduce waste and operating expenses.
Enhance reputation
Attract customers by demonstrating environmental responsibility.
Meet net zero targets
Contribute to combating climate change and align with local and global sustainability targets.

Understanding the data methodology

The plan calculates your carbon footprint by focusing on three main areas. By inputting data about these areas, the plan provides a detailed breakdown of your emissions, helping you prioritise where to act. The plan allows you track data over time, providing space for the year’s current data alongside the previous year and so on.

Read more about our calculator methodology.

Energy consumption
Measure electricity and gas usage.
Business transport
Account for emissions from vehicles and staff travel.
Waste management
Evaluates the environmental impact of waste disposal and recycling.

Timeline and key insights

Understand the time commitment required and the type of insights a properly executed sustainability plan can provide.

How long does it take?

Initial Setup: 2–4 hours to gather and input data for the first time.
Ongoing Updates: 1–2 hours per month or quarter to refresh data and monitor progress.
Annual Review: Use the plan yearly to generate a comprehensive report to compare results and evaluate trends.

What should the results tell you?

The plan’s results will provide:

a breakdown of emissions by category (eg, energy, waste, transport)
insights into areas with the highest environmental impact
benchmarks for tracking your progress over time
clear opportunities for targeted sustainability actions

How to use the climate action plan

Gather key data
To ensure accurate results, gather information from the following sources throughout the designated tax or calendar year:
Energy use – electricity and gas bills (in kWh), sources of energy (both renewable and non-renewable), and regular meter readings.
Transportation – vehicle mileage logs and fuel receipts, employee travel records, including mode of transport and distances covered.
Waste management – waste collection invoices, recycling records, and results from periodic waste audits.
Input your data
- Download the action plan.
- Follow the prompts to input your data in each category. The plan is user-friendly, with clear instructions for data entry.
Analyse your results
- Review the calculated carbon footprint by category.
- Identify high-emission areas (eg, energy use or waste) to concentrate on first.
Act
- Develop a plan to reduce emissions. This might include switching to renewable energy, improving waste management, or encouraging sustainable travel among staff and guests.

Audits, risk assessment and adaption planning

The Climate Action Plan includes exercises which incorporate aspects of energy auditing, climate risk assessments and adaption planning.

All three components form a broader strategy to gauge your energy efficiency and how resilient your business is to the impacts of climate change.

Energy audit
The plan guides businesses through assessing their energy consumption to identify areas for improvement. It provides tools to measure energy use, track emissions, and implement strategies to enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs.
Climate risk assessment
The plan doesn’t include a separate climate risk audit. But it encourages businesses to consider the potential impacts of climate change on their operations. This includes how risks such as changing weather patterns can impact businesses, and how to best insulate the business against these.
Adaptation planning
The plan provides guidance on creating a climate adaptation plan, which involves assessing vulnerabilities, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing measures to enhance resilience.

Make green improvements

Take action to reduce your environmental impact, save money, and support climate goals! Start with simple, low-cost changes or commit to long-term strategies. Explore key steps in waste reduction, energy use, travel, and more.

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How to measure your climate impact

Why measure your climate impact?

Establish a baseline

Make informed decisions

Track progress

Save costs

Enhance reputation

Meet net zero targets

Understanding the data methodology

Energy consumption

Business transport

Waste management

Timeline and key insights

How long does it take?

What should the results tell you?

How to use the climate action plan

Gather key data

Input your data

Analyse your results

Act

Audits, risk assessment and adaption planning

Energy audit

Climate risk assessment

Adaptation planning

Make green improvements

Related Pages

Create a sustainability plan

Your guide to net zero and sustainability

How to create your climate action plan

Promoting Scotland online

Sign up for the latest advice

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