Overview
The Avoided Emissions Platform (AEP) — formerly known as AEFDi — is an international collaborative initiative co-founded by MRC in 2023 to standardize the measurement of avoided emissions, sometimes referred to as Scope 4. MRC plays an active role in the initiative, contributing to the development of its open-access reference framework and to the research underpinning its methodological tools. The AEP currently brings together eleven partners spanning institutional investors, corporations, and climate expertise organizations.
Background
Avoided emissions represent the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that occur as a result of a company’s products or services being used in place of higher-carbon alternatives. A solar panel that replaces coal-fired electricity, a heat pump that replaces a gas boiler, a software platform that reduces business travel — these all generate avoided emissions that are not captured anywhere in conventional Scope 1, 2, or 3 accounting.
The concept is not new, but it has historically lacked a shared methodology. Without standardized definitions, consistent emission factors, and agreed-upon accounting boundaries, companies have calculated avoided emissions using widely varying approaches, making comparison across firms and sectors almost impossible.
What the AEP delivers
The AEP addresses this gap through three core outputs, all made available in open access:
- A comprehensive methodological guide. A full framework for calculating avoided emissions at the company and product level, covering boundary-setting, reference scenario selection, attribution rules, and quality assurance.
- A sectoral database of avoided emission factors. A curated, peer-reviewed database of more than 60 validated avoided emission factors across key sectors, providing companies and investors with consistent reference values for their assessments.
- An online assessment tool. A freely accessible platform enabling companies to calculate and report their avoided emissions in a standardized and auditable manner.