Methodology, Boundaries, Scope and Data
Includes information for FY 2019 & 2020 inventory
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We have tracked our energy consumption and greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions for Argo Group's global portfolio, measuring
emissions from a small fleet of owned vehicles, leased real
estate, and corporate travel.
This is Argo Group’s second year preparing a GHG summary,
outlining the reductions in energy and emissions across our
overall portfolio.
Calculating and disclosing our GHG inventory fits two objectives that align with our external reporting:
• to understand the year-over-year financial spend and GHG emissions trends for our global portfolio, following the guidance of the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1; and
• to manage the climate transition risks of our portfolio and mitigate the GHG emissions.
Protocol
Liability and Risk Management
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Recalculating Base Year Emissions
The following cases shall trigger recalculation of base year emissions: 1. Structural changes in the reporting of the organization, such as:
• Mergers, acquisitions, and divestments
• Outsourcing and insourcing of emitting activities
2. Changes in calculation methodology or improvements in the accuracy of emission factors or activity data that result in a significant impact on the base year emissions data.
3. Discovery of significant errors, or a number of cumulative errors, that are collectively significant.
Significant Threshold
As stated in The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a significant threshold that triggers a base year
emissions recalculation must be disclosed.
Since our initial efforts in collecting GHG information for 2019, we’ve had improvements in the
accuracy of our data that has had a significant impact on the base year emissions calculations.
As such, base year emissions for 2019 have been retroactively recalculated.
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Overview
Organizational Boundaries
Per the ISO 14064-1 guideline, the organizational boundary was selected on an equity share approach.
Argo has an international footprint with a mix of leased and owned facilities. The equity share approach is beneficial for multinational companies in different jurisdictions.
Argo has full financial control of business activities and can implement policies to obtain
economic advantages of the business activities conducted, as outlined in The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol (2019).
Operational Boundaries
See full list of geographic parameters in the Appendix
Scope 1 Direct Emissions Scope 2 Indirect Emissions Scope 3 Indirect Emissions
Mobile combustion from a small fleet of company owned vehicles
Emission from consumed energy using the emission factors from the location-based method
Emission across our value chain, corporate travel
Leased facilities have been reported using the financial control approach.
Where Argo pays the utility bill directly, or utility use is sub metered by the landlord, emissions are considered to be within Argo’s financial control.
Where the landlord pays the utility bill, emissions typically would be considered out of the company’s financial control; however,
assumptions have been made, and for full transparency, these have been reported in Scope 2 emissions.
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Emissions resulting from Argo’s corporate air and rail travel have
been reported using the distance-based method, as per the GHG
Protocol.
Distance traveled is multiplied by the appropriate emission factor for
the mode of transportation.
Hotel stays is multiplied by the appropriate emission factor for the
hotel type by the number of nights stayed.
Source: Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions
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Location
2020 electricity kWh
2019 electricity kWh
United States
4,698,551
5,133,027
Brazil
64,555
104,663
Belgium
16,368
65,475
Switzerland
32,737
65,475
Bermuda
923,654
1,308,125
United Kingdom
440,040
510,343
United Arab Emirates
367,920
919,800
Italy
66,518
96,102
Singapore
39,194
78,389
Malta
70,550
78,389
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Total metric tons CO2e for all offices – Scope 2
Location
Emission Factors
kg CO2e
Metric tons of CO2e
2020
Metric tons of CO2e
2019
United States
0.45322
2,129.48
2,326.39
Brazil
0.074
4.77
7.75
Belgium
0.15313
2.50
10.03
Switzerland
0.01182
0.38
0.77
Bermuda
0.188
173.65
245.93
United Kingdom
0.23314
102.59
118.98
United Arab Emirates
0.4258
156.66
391.65
Italy
0.33854
22.52
32.53
Singapore
0.4085
16.01
32.02
Malta
0.3706
26.15
29.05
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Appendix A
Organizational Boundaries – United States
State
City
Illinois
Chicago
New York
New York City
Texas
San Antonio
Virginia
Richmond
Appendix B
Organizational Boundaries – United States
kWh Data Not Available - data approximated by floor space
State
City
Arizona
Scottsdale
California
Irvine, San Francisco
Colorado
Denver
Florida
Miami
Georgia
Alpharetta
Illinois
Peoria
Massachusetts
Boston, Springfield
New Jersey
Hamilton, Jersey City
New York
New York City
Oregon
Portland
Pennsylvania
Rockwood
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