Advanced Scope 3 training course
For experienced carbon accountants looking to develop and consolidate their skills in Scope 3 supply chain accounting
​This 2-day instructor-led course will combine the principles of best-practice upstream supply chain Scope 3 accounting with practical skills and case studies, developed with the Carbon Accounting Alliance and delivered by Small World Consulting Scope 3 specialists.
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The course covers many of the competencies required for the Registered Practitioner and Principal Practitioner level of the professional Register for Carbon Accountants and Auditors (RCAA). Starting with a spend-based foundation, you will learn how to increase the specificity of your footprint, whilst maintaining consistent boundaries and methodologies.
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You will learn which decisions you need to make, how to justify them based on Scope 3 principles, how to maintain consistency in your approach and how to document every step you’ve taken. Over the 2 days you will work through examples, combining hands-on calculations with group discussions to debate and refine your decision-making.
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All of the details on what’s included, training dates, pricing and FAQ’s can be found below. We are limiting each cohort to 16 delegates, so book now to secure your space on one of the first groups!
2027 Course Dates
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19th - 20 January (online intensive)
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17th - 18 March (online intensive)
You'll be asked to select your preferred dates during booking. We'll release additional 2027 dates early next year.
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Pricing
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Full (paying) CAA members = £1,195 + VAT
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Standard rate = £1,395 + VAT
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Concessionary rates:
25% off for registered charities, non-profits & academics (Limited to 2 places per cohort).
The team behind the course
Mike Berners-Lee
Mike is a world-leading expert in carbon accounting. His book ‘How Bad are Bananas’ brought the concept of carbon footprinting into the public eye, measuring all kinds of emissions from a banana, a computer and a dishwasher, to an email and a flight across the Atlantic.
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He has been a pioneer of ‘hybrid’ carbon accounting methodologies that combine the top-down approach of input-output models with the bottom-up approach of product life cycle analysis, to yield results that are both specific and system-complete.
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Mike thinks, writes, researches and speaks about sustainability and the big system changes needed to overcome the climate and ecological crises in the Anthropocene.
Mike is the Director of Small World Consulting, a Professor in Practice at Lancaster University and Chair of the National Emergency Briefing.
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Mike worked with the Small World Consulting team to develop the course.
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Matt Bond
Your course trainer is Matt Bond. Matt leads the Small World Consulting carbon accounting team and is a Scope 3 specialist. After completing his Master's, where he developed methods to quantify the carbon footprint of the UK’s electronic waste recycling system, he’s been with Small World for over 5 years, working with clients including BT Group, Mountain Equipment and AO.
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Matt has trained the Small World team in how to build on a spend-based foundation by assessing data quality, making decisions based on a consistent methodology and ensuring a comparable system boundary. He’ll lead you through practical exercises drawn from real-world examples that he’s encountered with clients and will support your group discussions to hear and challenge different approaches.
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Why this course?
This 2-day course has been designed and delivered by industry experts with over two decades of experience, working to push best-practice Scope 3 footprinting.
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Deeper knowledge
Understand Scope 3 principles and how to apply them in a range of real-life situations.
Build a Scope 3 case study
Develop a templated case study over two days, to show your calculations and document your decisions to show your methodology and consistency.
Peer learning
Group discussions to learn from other experienced carbon accountants across a range of industries and sectors.
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Who is this for?
Mid-career sustainability professionals with experience of Scope 3 accounting will find this course invaluable.
This 2-day course has been designed and delivered by industry experts with over two decades of experience, working to push best-practice Scope 3 footprinting.
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Mid-career professionals
Experienced carbon accountants and sustainability professionals with a working knowledge and experience of Scope 3 supply chain accounting.
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Sustainability consultants
Consultants working on a range of clients’ Scope 3 assessments looking to apply best-practice principles to different industries and sectors.
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In-house carbon and sustainability leads
Solo in-house or team leaders looking to follow best-practice and document their decisions in a robust and defensible way to senior leaders or external stakeholders.
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If you’re an early-career sustainability professional looking for a full overview of Scopes 1, 2 and 3, we recommend taking the Technical Associate Certificate in Carbon Accounting Course. This Advanced Scope 3 course is ideal if you’ve completed the TACCA course, have gained working experience and now want to deepen your Scope 3 knowledge and practical skills.
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If you’re not sure if this course is the right fit for you, just get in touch to talk with the Small World Consulting trainers: Scope3@carbonaccountingalliance.com
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“ There’s no shortage of Scope 3 guidance, but there’s a shortage of people who really know how to apply it well. This course gives practitioners access to that depth of expertise and that’s exactly what our profession needs right now.”
Emilien Hoet, Co-Founder, Carbon Accounting Alliance.​​​
What you’ll learn
Across two days of guided expert instruction, you will develop your understanding, justify your decisions and practice hands-on skills in:
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Boundaries and data foundations
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Select and justify an organisational consolidation approach for structurally complex entities, and document your boundary decision in a form suitable for external review.
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Identify and correct common data quality issues in raw spend and activity data, and assess the reliability of a spend-based emission factor dataset against a defined checklist.
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Choose and apply appropriate spend-based emissions factors to produce a Scope 3 estimate, with practical application using the SWC MRIO, allowing you to ask questions about the emission factors from the team that built them.
Building and refining the footprint
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Select and apply the appropriate activity-based method, in place of a spend-based estimate, for GHGP categories 1-8, while avoiding gaps or double counting.
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Run a sensitivity analysis on a spend-based footprint to identify which data points and suppliers have the greatest effect on the result, and use this to prioritise which suppliers are worth engaging with for supplier-specific data.
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Learn how to make Product Carbon Footprints comparable to your spend-based estimates, by removing truncation errors, and use PCF in your Scope 3 assessment.
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Blend supplier-specific data, evidence-based sector adjustments, and hybridised PCF data into a robust and defensible spend-based footprint.
Reporting and acting on results
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Produce a clear, defensible summary report of an organisational Scope 3 suitable for an external audience, including auditors.
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Identify emissions hotspots within a footprint, recommend proportionate and evidence-linked reduction actions (including supplier engagement and its likely barriers), and be able to describe what makes a target "fit for purpose".
Overall
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Build a complete, defensible upstream Scope 3 footprint for an organisation end-to-end, while making and documenting the judgement calls required at each step along the way.
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