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On 10th June the UK Government published the 2025 Greenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors. This is an annual exercise carried out by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
You can check them out here:
🔗 Greenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors 2025
We're currently reviewing all factors and updating the Climate Essentials platform behind the scenes. Once this is complete, the 2025 dataset will go live so you can begin reporting your latest carbon footprint!
What’s new this year?
There are a couple of notable changes in this year’s update that might impact your carbon footprint, especially if electricity or water make up a big part of it:
For example, If your organisation used 100,000 kWh of electricity in both 2024 and 2025, your emissions would be:
In 2024: 100,000 kWh × 0.20705 kgCO₂e/kWh = 20,705 kgCO₂e
In 2025: 100,000 kWh × 0.177 kgCO₂e/kWh = 17,700 kgCO₂e
That’s a reduction of 3,005 kgCO₂e for the exact same energy use, simply due to the cleaner electricity grid.
For example, if your organisation used 1,000 m³ of water in both 2024 and 2025, your emissions would be:
In 2024: 1,000 m³ × 0.15311 kgCO₂e/m³ = 153.11 kgCO₂e
In 2025: 1,000 m³ × 0.17088 kgCO₂e/m³ = 170.88 kgCO₂e
That’s an increase of 17.77 kgCO₂e due to a higher carbon factor for water supply in 2025.
We’ll let you know as soon as the 2025 reporting is ready to go. Keep an eye on updates in the Net Zero Community!
A reminder… What are carbon factors?
Carbon factors are standardised values that tell us how much greenhouse gas emissions are produced for a given activity or resource. They are used to calculate your carbon footprint by assigning a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) value to every carbon-emitting activity, process, product or service used, from energy and fuel consumption to purchasing new stationery or paying for cleaning services.
Where do carbon factors come from?
Every year, government organisations around the world publish updated carbon factors. These updates happen annually to reflect changes in energy sources, water supply, and data from suppliers. In the UK, DESNZ is responsible for reviewing carbon factors, these are usually released mid-year and can even be updated retroactively, which might tweak past calculations. If you ever notice slight changes in your previous footprint, this is often why!
Why does this matter to me?
Carbon factors directly inform the calculations that go into measuring your organisation’s carbon footprint. If your organisation is reporting carbon emissions, you need accurate and up-to-date carbon factors to get a reliable measurement of your carbon footprint. At Climate Essentials, we ensure that our platform is always updated with the latest carbon factors so your reporting stays accurate and aligned with current standards.
Why do carbon factors change?
These factors change each year because the way things are produced or supplied changes. For example, electricity gets cleaner as we use more renewables like wind and solar, and less coal or gas. So the carbon factor for electricity usually goes down. Water supply might get more carbon-intensive if there's less rainfall and more pumping or treatment is needed, so the factor can go up. Changes in technology, supply chains, fuel mixes or imports all affect the emissions behind the scenes, even if your usage stays the same. So, when you see a change in your reported emissions year-on-year, part of it could be because of how much you used, and part of it could be because the carbon factors changed in the background.
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