Corporate carbon footprint in Italy: data, factors and reporting

Italian companies measure their carbon footprint with the same international method as everyone else, the GHG Protocol, but a few inputs are specific to Italy. The most important is the national electricity factor published by ISPRA. This page brings together what an Italian company needs, and links to the detailed guides.

Electricity: use ISPRA's national factors

ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) publishes Italy's electricity emission factors every year, from 1990 to the latest year, with the most recent year marked as preliminary. For the location-based Scope 2 figure you choose between two bases:

• Consumption factor (192.6 g CO2/kWh in 2024): includes grid losses and imported electricity. Use it alone; do not add grid losses.
• Gross production factor (209.4 g CO2/kWh in 2024): electricity generated in Italy including renewables, without losses. Add grid losses in Scope 3 category 3.

ISPRA's factors are CO2 only, so state that your Scope 2 figure excludes methane and nitrous oxide. The guide to ISPRA factors has the full table from 1990, the footnotes and a worked example.

Grid losses

If you use the production factor, Italian grid losses come from two ISPRA values for the same year: the share of losses in consumption (6.56% in 2024) and the CO2 factor per kWh lost (175.2 g in 2024). For 100,000 kWh consumed in 2024 that adds 1,149 kg CO2. See Scope 3 category 3.

Renewable electricity contracts

If you buy renewable electricity, the evidence in Europe is the guarantee of origin (GO), which according to the Association of Issuing Bodies shows "that a given share or quantity of energy was produced from renewable sources". The GHG Protocol's Scope 2 Guidance then requires two Scope 2 figures: location-based (ISPRA) and market-based (your contract). See location-based vs market-based Scope 2.

Fuels, vehicles and refrigerants

Natural gas, diesel and refrigerant emissions follow the same method everywhere: quantity × factor. LCALens currently uses the UK government (DESNZ) factors for fuels, which are a reasonable approximation because combustion emissions depend mainly on the fuel itself. Italian national fuel factors from ISPRA are planned for the factor library and are not yet available. See Scope 1 emissions.

Reporting obligations

• CSRD and ESRS. EU sustainability reporting rules were narrowed during 2025 and 2026. The European Commission's Omnibus proposal would "apply the CSRD only to the largest companies (those with more than 1000 employees)", political agreement was reached on 9 December 2025, and amended ESRS were adopted on 3 July 2026. Check the Commission's page for the final thresholds and dates that apply to your company. See carbon accounting standards.
• VSME. Many Italian SMEs are asked for emissions data by banks and large customers. The voluntary VSME standard, recommended by the Commission on 30 July 2025 for non-listed SMEs with fewer than 250 employees, covers energy and greenhouse gas emissions in disclosure B3 and is a sensible format for answering those requests.

A first Italian inventory in five steps

1. Electricity bills for each site (kWh per year): Scope 2 with the ISPRA factor for that year.
2. Gas and fuel invoices: Scope 1.
3. Refrigerant top-ups from your maintenance contractor: Scope 1.
4. Grid losses, if you used the production factor, and the upstream emissions of fuels: Scope 3 category 3.
5. Business travel and commuting: Scope 3 categories 6 and 7; see business travel and commuting.