Does emissions reporting matter for service businesses that don’t make physical products?

Yes, service businesses have significant environmental impacts through their regular operations:

Office operations and utilities: Day-to-day activities such as energy consumption, heating, cooling, lighting, and water usage in office spaces directly contribute to carbon emissions and resource consumption.

• Business travel and commuting: Both employee commutes and business travel by air, rail, or road drive Scope 3 emissions, often representing a substantial share of a company's indirect environmental footprint.
• Purchased services and supplies: Materials and services acquired from external vendors—including office supplies, outsourcing, logistics, and other support functions—carry embedded emissions that add to your organization’s overall impact.
• Technology and equipment use: The use and lifecycle of IT hardware, data centers, cloud services, and networking equipment can significantly influence energy demand and emissions, particularly as digital operations grow.
• Professional services costs: Engagements with external consultants, legal advisors, or financial services often involve additional resource use and travel, indirectly increasing your environmental footprint.

Even in the absence of physical manufacturing, your business spending—across categories such as procurement, operations, or IT—contributes to measurable environmental impacts.

By identifying, quantifying, and managing these operational emissions, organizations like consulting firms, software companies, marketing agencies, and financial services providers can optimize resource efficiency, reduce their carbon footprint, and demonstrate meaningful progress on sustainability goals.