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Do cloud services fall under Scope 2 or Scope 3, and how do AWS’s renewable energy purchases influence our emissions calculations?

Updated over 2 weeks ago

If your company uses cloud services like AWS, the electricity used to power the data centers is not Scope 2 for you, because you’re not purchasing the electricity directly. Instead, it falls under Scope 3, specifically in Category 1: Purchased goods and services.

That means you should include the emissions from AWS operations in your Scope 3 inventory — not Scope 2 — based on the services you consume (e.g., computing, storage, etc.).

Regarding AWS’s renewable energy claims: AWS does purchase renewable electricity and EACs to reduce its own Scope 2 emissions. However, unless AWS provides specific emissions factors for your usage (which they typically do via sustainability reports or dashboards), you cannot assume your own market-based emissions are zero. You also don’t need to buy your own EACs for AWS consumption, since you’re not directly responsible for that electricity.

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