Plan, compare, decide. 

Use scenarios to maximize the impact of the decarbonization strategy by grouping all actions in one place. Forecast outcomes, track progress to stay on target, and integrate financial data to support informed strategic decisions. 

Many teams create one scenario per target (e.g., Scopes 1 & 2, Scope 3 upstream) to keep things clear. Alternatively, duplicate a scenario as a sandbox to try different targets, growth rates, or action bundles. Create as many scenarios as needed.

Table of contents

• Setting up scenarios
  • Create a scenario
  • Edit a scenario
  • Duplicate or delete
• What's included in a scenario
  • Scenario summary
  • Outlook chart
  • Actions
  • Change analysis chart
    • Overlapping actions

Setting up scenarios

Create a scenario

Go to Carbon Management, then Decarbonization Strategy. Create new scenarios from this page. The parameters of a scenario are described below.

Name: give the scenario a clear name.

Base year: select the year from which targets are set and progress is tracked over time. The base year should have reliable, verifiable, and complete emissions data to ensure credible comparisons in future years.

Only years with emissions data in Position Green can be selected. To add historical emissions data calculated outside Position Green, contact the Customer Success Manager.

Reference year: select the starting point for forecasting future emissions. This is usually the most recent year with complete emissions data and is used together with the growth rate to forecast business as usual and projected emissions. 

For example, during reporting for 2025, 2024 is typically the reference year.

Target year: select the year by which the emissions reduction target should be met.

Expected business growth: enter the forecasted business growth on a year-over-year percentage basis. This is used to forecast projected emissions and business as usual emissions. 

Including a growth factor is consistent with science-based target logic: absolute emissions should decline over time in line with the pathway, even when the business grows.

Select scopes to include in the scenario: choose which scopes and categories to include in the scenario. 

    Note: Decarbonization Strategy uses market-based emissions for Scope 2.

Decarbonization target: enter targets either per scope or on a combined basis (e.g. a combined Scope 1 & 2 target).

Edit a scenario

After a scenario is created, edit its parameters at any time by clicking “Edit” in the upper right-hand corner.

Edit button in the upper right-hand corner of a scenario

Duplicate or delete

To duplicate or delete a scenario, click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner.

Duplicate and delete options under the three dots

Duplicate a scenario to create a safe copy for testing different growth assumptions, target years, or action mixes—then compare results and keep the version that works.

What's included in a scenario

Scenario summary

A snapshot of key figures for the scenario.

Scenario summary

CO₂e reduction target: The overall emissions reduction target for the scenario, expressed as a percentage reduction from base year emissions. 

• If a combined target is set (e.g. reduce Scope 1 & 2 by 50%), that target appears here.
• If separate targets are set by scope, this shows the weighted target across scopes. This is calculated by weighting the individual Scope 1, 2, and 3 targets according to their share of base year emissions.

OpEx: the total annual change in operational expenditures (OpEx) across all actions in the scenario.

CapEx: the total capital expenditures (CapEx) across all actions in the scenario.

Outlook chart

Outlook chart

The Outlook chart shows how the emissions pathway develops over time. It brings together historically reported emissions, projected emissions, and target trajectory, showing clearly whether the planned actions are enough to move away from business as usual and toward the goals. 

The chart visualizes the following data points:

• Reported emissions: The actual, calculated emissions based on submitted data. They reflect what has been reported to date and are not modified by this module—they serve as the foundation for projections and comparisons. 
  • Tip: Click “View reported emissions” to view historical data in Analytics, identify hotspots and find opportunities for actions.
• Business as usual (BAU): Calculated based on the reported emissions in the reference year and expected business growth rate. No decarbonization actions are applied here.
  
• Projected emissions: Calculated based on the BAU emissions, reduced by adopted decarbonization actions. 
  
• Target trajectory: A linear path from the base year to the target year based on the defined emissions reduction target.
  
  

Actions

Actions represent concrete measures—like efficiency upgrades, fuel switching, or renewable energy sourcing—that change the projected emissions. Add an action to specify its impact and timing, then see how the plan compares with the target. 

Actions in a scenario

Jump-start with AI-generated suggestions. Once the scenario is set, generate action ideas tailored to the data, complete with impact estimates and rationale. Review, adjust, and adopt them into the plan.

Learn more: How AI-generated suggestions work

To build actions without suggestions, create actions manually: set reduction %, implementation rate, timing, and costs, then track progress over time.

Learn more: Creating actions

Change analysis chart

Change analysis chart

The Change analysis chart is a waterfall view that explains the step-by-step changes from the base year to the target year. It shows:

• Base year: the starting point.

• Business activity: represents the change in emissions resulting from business activity if no decarbonization actions are applied. It is calculated as the difference between base year emissions and business-as-usual emissions in the target year — which may reflect either growth or reduction depending on how operations or activity levels have changed over time.

• Reductions: reductions achieved by the actions in the scenario. These are grouped by decarbonization lever by default, and the view can be changed using the "Group actions by" dropdown.

• Projected: total emissions in the target year after applying growth and actions.

• Target: the chosen goal for the target year.

This chart shows the contribution of each factor (growth pressures, individual actions, and the resulting projection), making it easy to judge whether the combined actions are sufficient to close the gap to the target.

Overlapping actions

When multiple actions affect the same emissions source, an additional bar labeled "Overlapping" may appear. This adds back overlapping emissions so the chart doesn’t “double count.” To fix this, review the actions to find the conflicts, and adjust parameters accordingly (most often, the implementation rate or org.unit selection).

For example, the chart below shows overlapping actions of 257.68 t CO2e.

Overlapping bar in the Change analysis chart

The Actions table below shows three actions targeting Scope 2: Purchased electricity. In total, these actions would exceed the total emissions for that category, and therefore the excess emission reductions of 257.68 t CO2e are adjusted back in the chart as a quality safeguard. 

In this case, the "Energy efficiency" action (257.68 t CO2e) conflicts with the first two actions in the table. To fix this, the actions targeting Scope 2: Purchased electricity should be reviewed and adjusted, either by removing some actions or adjusting parameters. 

In this example, most likely the implementation rate should be adjusted across these actions to first reflect the reduction in energy use from efficiency measures (e.g. 20%), then the remaining electricity use can be targeted by on-site solar (e.g. 40%) and EACs (e.g. 40%).

Actions table with three actions targeting Scope 2: Purchased electricity