Once you’ve successfully uploaded your first sets of data, you can explore your emissions dashboards. To do this, go to ‘Measure emissions’ and use the menu on the left to view the specific emission categories you’re interested in, check your overall Company emissions, or see how you compare to others in the Benchmarks dashboard.
Emission dashboards explained
At the top of the screen, there are a number of filtering options to set the parameters of the information displayed:
Timeframe: By default, emissions of All Data are displayed (that is the timeframe that organisational data have been uploaded for). On the left, click 'All data' to apply a specific timeframe to the data displayed in the emissions scorecards and charts.
Compare to: The comparison tool allows you to compare how your emissions either decrease or increase year on year. Once you have selected the period to compare, hover over data in the charts to compare specific data points between periods and use these insights to inform your Action Plan:
Filters: Filters are applied to all charts within the dashboard. They are a great way to explore the emissions of e.g. a specific facility or an emission category-specific criterion further.
Reorder charts and scorecards: "Emissions over time" is the default chart that is shown at the top of each emission dashboard under the scorecards. You can easily adjust the order of your charts by clicking the Reorder charts option, next to Add filter. Sets of 6 dots will appear on the left of each chart where you can click to drag and drop the charts where you choose, and then click Save changes.
Emission scorecards
At the top of every emissions dashboard, you will find an array of Emissions scorecards that give you a quick overview of different emissions metrics:
Average number of employees
The “Average number of employees” scorecard captures the varying number of employees over the given timeframe as an average. We calculate this using the following logic:
Average number of employees = (Total from employee number x Days) / Total days of selected time range
As such, you should not expect to see the exact employee number that you uploaded in the Organisational Data sheet. Rather, the number will reflect the average across the time frame you select for the emission dashboard. This ensures accurate depictions of intensity metrics, like emissions per employee, which are often used during target setting.
Why we use average employee count
When analysing your carbon data, we use average employee numbers rather than total employees to provide the most accurate and useful sustainability insights.
Employee numbers typically fluctuate throughout a reporting period. Using an average workforce count ensures your emissions intensity calculations (emissions per employee) correctly reflect your operational efficiency.
This approach:
Accounts for seasonal staffing changes: For example, if your retail facilities increase staff by 30% during holiday seasons, using a total would misrepresent your typical operations.
Enables more meaningful comparisons across different time periods: If you had 100 employees in Q1 and 150 in Q2, comparing absolute emissions without accounting for workforce growth would be misleading.
Provides a more representative picture of your carbon intensity: A facility that emits 1000 tCO2e with an average of 50 employees (20 tCO2e/employee) is less efficient than one emitting the same with an average of 100 employees (10 tCO2e/employee).
Aligns with standard sustainability reporting practices: Major frameworks like GHG Protocol and CDP recommend using intensity metrics to normalise emissions. While specific calculation methodologies vary, using consistent employee counts across reporting periods helps ensure your intensity metrics are comparable over time.
Emissions per employee
This is calculated by dividing the total emissions of the selected category by the average number of employees during the time frame for which data is available.
Options for Dashboard adjustments and modifications
All charts can be adjusted and modified in the following intuitive ways to pinpoint the insights most helpful to you:
Time intervals
Time intervals
You can adjust your emissions to be shown on a monthly, quarterly or annual interval:
Note: For the majority of business activities, when 'Month' is selected as the timeframe for specific rows of data which have been uploaded on a yearly basis (i.e. the start and end date of the row are a year apart), the data will not display as the exact same for each month. This is because the data is broken down to a daily average, and multiplied by the number of days in each given month in order to reflect their varying lengths.
Breakdown
Breakdown
Breakdowns are a powerful option to compare emissions based on different criteria. This is where you can choose specific criteria like Facility or Location..
Tags that you add during collecting and updating your data can also be used as a breakdown option.
In the dashboards for specific emissions categories, you can also choose from Category-specific breakdowns for a more granular analysis of your emissions. Below you can see the examples for the Mobile combustion category.
Change the chart type
Change the chart type
Some data might be better represented by a bar chart while others benefit more from a line chart. Test a few options and find the settings that work for you. You can choose from:
Vertical bar chart
Line chart
Horizontal bar chart
Adjust the width of charts
Adjust the width of charts
Choose between 50% and 100% width:
Export data
Export data
For each and every one of the charts, you can choose to Export the data into an excel file. The export will be influenced by all the conditions you have set for the emissions dashboard. If you would like to get a full export of all of your emissions, navigate to the 'Report Emissions' page.
Benchmarks explained
The Benchmarks dashboard (available under Measure emissions) is designed to give you valuable insight into how your company’s decarbonisation efforts stack up against similar organisations. By comparing your emissions intensity to industry peers, you can quickly see whether you’re emitting more or less CO₂ relative to your company’s size or output, and identify where you have room to improve.
What does 'emissions intensity' mean?
Emissions intensity refers to the amount of carbon emissions (CO₂e) produced per unit of business activity, such as per unit of revenue or employee. By expressing emissions relative to your business activity, emissions intensity allows you to compare your carbon performance with other companies, even if they are a different size or operate at a different scale. This helps you understand how efficient your operations are and where you stand within your industry.
On your dashboard, you will see your emissions intensity expressed in two ways:
Company revenue intensity. This is kgCO₂e per million USD of revenue. Your value is calculated using your emissions and a default revenue value, which can be adjusted to reflect your company’s revenue (in million USD).
Full-time employee (FTE) intensity. This is kgCO₂e per FTE. Your value is calculated using your emissions and employee data is taken from Organisational data inputs.
How are benchmarks calculated?
To help you understand your own performance, we compare your emissions intensity to a broader dataset of companies in your industry. We have access to a large database of companies — not limited to Plan A customers — and calculate the industry benchmark as the average emissions intensity across those companies. Here’s how we compute the benchmark:
This gives you a clear reference point so you can see if you are performing better, worse, or in line with your industry peers.
The data used to generate benchmarks is updated periodically to reflect the latest available emissions and business activity data.
How to ensure you are being benchmarked against your industry peers?
First, make sure the correct industry is selected in your company settings. Please note that the Benchmarks dashboard is updated hourly, on the hour, so if you change your industry, it may take a little time to reflect it.
To tailor your benchmarks even further, you can apply these filters:
Region — Select a broader geographic region (e.g. Europe, North America) to benchmark emissions generated in that region against emissions in the same region of other companies in your industry. This refers to the geographic area where the emissions occurred, not where your company is headquartered.
Location — Narrow it down to benchmark emissions generated in a specific country against the emissions in that same country of other companies in your industry.
Revenue (in million USD) — Enter your company’s revenue to calculate your revenue-based emissions intensity and compare it with companies of a similar size. The revenue you enter is not stored in Plan A’s systems. It’s used only temporarily for calculation and comparison.
Example: If your company is based in Germany but operates warehouses in France and Spain, using the Location filter for Francewill show how your emissions there compare with similar businesses operating in the same country. The same principle applies when filtering by a broader Region, such as Europe.