Emissions to air/water/soil by pollutant (mass)
Unit
Indicator
Metric type
Framework alignment notes
Target example
[Company name] will reduce emissions of [pollutant type] release to [air/water/soil] in [target location(s)] by [target amount, absolute or percentage] by [target year], compared with a [baseline year] baseline.
Target source: WBCSD target template
Metric assessment
Relevance: High
Feasibility: High
Additional Metric Notes
ACT-D stage: Assess Maturity stage: Developing Metric Contribution to Action: Measuring emissions to air, water, and soil informs targeted actions that collectively advance the site and catchment towards best practice water stewardship, enabling continuous system-wide improvement. Observations/Successes/Challenges: > Some pollutants (e.g., CO₂, methane) are well-tracked, but others (e.g., microplastics, pharmaceutical by-products) may be overlooked. > Doesn't reflect impact or toxicity as for example, emitting 1 ton of CO₂ is not the same as 1 ton of mercury; reporting by mass alone ignores pollutant severity. > Data gaps in indirect emissions > Effective use of this metric depends on collaboration with stakeholders to ensure data veracity, contextual relevance, and collective progress towards risk reduction and impact mitigation.