FLAG emissions are calculated using the data entered in the relevant measurement templates on following Scopes and Categories, which supports alignment with GHG Protocol guidance, avoids double‑counting and keeps the setup simple for users.
Scope 1 - Direct Emissions from owned sources
Terrascope keeps following Energy & Industrial activities outside FLAG by default and only classifies them as FLAG when they are explicitly tagged.
On-farm stationary machinery fuel use
On-farm mobile machinery fuel use
Upstream fertiliser
Following activities always remain non‑FLAG.
On-farm refrigerants and other fugitive
On-farm electricity and steam use
Scope 3.1: Purchased Goods and Services
Determines FLAG emissions based on the emission factor applied to each activity. When an emission factor includes both FLAG and non‑FLAG components, this breakdown is used to allocate the corresponding portion of emissions as FLAG or non‑FLAG for that activity.
Scope 2 Purchased electricity, heat or steam - Not treated as FLAG
Scope 2 Purchased electricity, heat or steam activities are treated as Energy & Industrial
1. FLAG calculation methodology overview
Scope 1
The user enters activity data in Scope 1 templates, and select “FLAG tag” to determine the FLAG sub-categories; such as Land Use Change, Land Management (Biogenic) or Land Management (Non-biogenic)
If a FLAG tag is chosen, 100% of those emissions from the activities are counted as FLAG in the mapped category; if “Non‑FLAG” is chosen, they stay as Energy & Industrial (E&I) only.
Scope 3.1 Purchased Goods and Services
User enters normal Scope 3 activity data; no FLAG tagging is needed.
Applying Emission Factors contains a breakdown into FLAG and non‑FLAG components.
The system uses that breakdown to split total emissions into FLAG categories and non‑FLAG E&I.
2. Getting started on the platform
To measure FLAG emissions, follow the standard emission measurement process. FLAG emissions are calculated together with Energy and Industrial (E&I) emissions, based on the data entered in the relevant templates for Scopes 1 and Scope 3.1. A simplified outline is below; for full instructions, refer to the Measurement Setup and Data Collection & Processing sections of the Terrascope documentation.
Create a data campaign project in Terrascope.
Within the campaign, add tasks using the relevant Scope 1 or Scope 3.1 templates.
Download the templates, filling the required data including FLAG tagging for Scope 1 and upload the completed files.
Please refer to the template guidance for detailed instructions on how to complete templates for respective Scope/Categories.
4. After upload, the platform processes the data and uses the ‘On-farm’ field, ‘FLAG tag’ and ‘emission factor’ mapping to classify each activity’s emissions into the appropriate FLAG category for the relevant scope.
5.The resulting activities appear in the Activities table in Emission Analytics, and a high-level summary is available on the FLAG Dashboard.
3. Completing templates for activities with FLAG emissions.
Scope 1
Users complete the standard templates and fill in the FLAG‑specific columns (“On‑farm” and “FLAG tag”). This allows the system to identify FLAG‑relevant activities, apply FLAG tagging logic to on‑farm data, and classify emissions as FLAG or non‑FLAG. For Process gas, emissions for each gas type must be calculated in advance before filling the template. Please refer to the relevant guidance document for detailed calculation steps.
In the relevant Scope 1 templates;
Fuel consumption from buildings and equipments
Fuel consumption from vehicles
Process emissions from physical or chemical processes)
Terrascope introduces two key columns that drive FLAG classification:
On‑farm
Dropdown values: Yes / No.
This field is used only as metadata to show whether the activity occurs on‑farm, and to remind data custodians to pay attention if they intend to include it in FLAG calculations; it is not used to determine the FLAG category on the platform.
FLAG Tag
Template‑specific dropdown listing FLAG and non‑FLAG options.
Determines whether an activity is treated as FLAG and, if so, which FLAG category it belongs to (e.g. FLAG, Land Management - Machinery fuel usage).
Using these fields, the system identifies which activities generate FLAG emissions and assigns them to the appropriate FLAG categories.
FLAG Tag Input in Templates and FLAG Sub‑category Assignment
FLG tag input | FLAG Sub-category on Platform |
FLAG, Land Management - Machinery fuel usage | Land management (non-biogenic) |
Non-FLAG | Not classified as FLAG emissions |
How to fill the template for “Process emissions from physical or chemical processes”
The user or Terrascope first calculates emissions of activities by gas type
These emissions are then entered into the template with:
On-farm set appropriately (usually “Yes” for farm activities).
FLAG tag set to suitable land management tags;
“FLAG – Land-use change
“FLAG – Land management - enteric fermentation”
“FLAG – Land management - manure management”
“FLAG – Land management - Grazing deposition (urine & dung)”
“FLAG – Land management - Fertiliser application”
“FLAG – Land management - Organic amendments/crop residues”
“FLAG – Land management - Lime/urea application”
“FLAG – Land management - Rice cultivation/flood land”
“FLAG – Land management - Residue burning”
“FLAG – Land management - Biogenic CO2”
When uploaded, the platform:
Classifies these emissions under appropriate FLAG categories (e.g., land management non-biogenic or biogenic CO2, depending on tagging).
Surfaces them in the Activities view and FLAG dashboard under those categories.
FLAG Tag Input in Templates and FLAG Sub‑category Assignment
FLG tag input | FLAG Sub-category on Platform |
FLAG, Land-use change | Land use change |
FLAG, Land Management - Enteric fermentation | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Manure management | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Grazing deposition (urine & dung) | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Fertiliser application | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Organic amendments/crop residues | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Lime/urea application | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Rice cultivation/flood land | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Residue burning | Land management (non-biogenic) |
FLAG, Land Management - Biogenic CO2 | Land management (biogenic) |
Non-FLAG | Not classified as FLAG emissions |
ℹ️ As more granular templates (e.g., “Fertilizer application”, “Manure management”) soon become available, Terrascope plans to shift these flows from Scope 1.3 into activity-specific forms, using “On-farm” as a FLAG proxy where needed.
Scope 3.1 Purchased Goods and Services
There is no FLAG specific input required for Scope 3.1 (Purchased Goods and Services) template.
The platform identifies FLAG emissions based on the emission factor applied to each activity: when the components of a selected emission factor are mapped to ‘FLAG’ or ‘non‑FLAG’ components through emission‑factor disaggregation, the FLAG breakdown in that factor determines the ‘FLAG’ or ‘non‑FLAG’ emission split for the activity.
💡NOTE: Currently, following databases provides emission factors with built‑in FLAG vs non‑FLAG breakdowns; Ecoinvent, ADEME, Agrifootprint and IDEA, and when an activity is matched to Emission Factors from these databases, the platform automatically applies this FLAG disaggregation to allocate the relevant portion of emissions to FLAG categories.
Please refer to the guidance on Emission Factors, with particular attention to how FLAG components are incorporated into each factor and how to interpret them in your analysis.
After templates are successfully uploaded and calculations are completed, FLAG results can be viewed either as a high‑level summary on the FLAG Dashboard or in more granular detail on the Emission Analytics page by filtering and grouping by FLAG.