Emissions intensity
Greenhouse gas emissions per unit of an activity, output or economic measure.
Example
Examples include grams of CO₂e per kilowatt-hour or tonnes per unit of product.
The catch
Specify the denominator and track total emissions alongside it.
In more depth
Emissions intensity, explained.
Emissions intensity is the standard way to compare producers of different sizes, so sector benchmarks and many targets rely on it. The SBTi's sector approach for industries such as power and cement asks companies to converge on an intensity pathway. The oil and gas sector tracks a version called methane intensity, which relates methane emitted to the oil and gas a company produces.
Economic denominators need extra care. An intensity measured per euro of revenue falls when prices rise, even when the factory runs exactly as before, so physical units such as tonnes of steel tell a truer story. A change of denominator between reports is a warning sign.