Have you had this experience? You’ve worked for weeks to perfect your sustainability snapshot for your organization, you feel confident in your emissions figures and your takeaways for the business, only to be hit with a classic question:
“How does this compare to the rest of the industry?”
At its best, benchmarking isn’t about perfection or comparison for its own sake—it’s about perspective. It helps you see where you’re leading, where you’re lagging, and where to focus next to make your climate strategy both credible and actionable. And it can be the key to making the data meaningful for non-expert stakeholders and leadership teams.
There are countless ways to assess performance against your peers, but some are more useful than others. Based on Optera’s decades of helping clients plan their programs, we’d identified six focus areas that offer a great starting point to understand how your program measures up and where to focus next:
- Emissions intensity – how efficiently you manage carbon relative to your business output
- Verification status – the extent to which your data is assured through third-party review
- Scope 3 analysis – how comprehensively you account for indirect value chain emissions
- Renewable energy adoption – the scale and credibility of your clean energy sourcing
- Emissions reduction initiatives – the programs driving measurable progres
- Science-based targets (SBTs) – the ambition and rigor of your long-term goals
Let’s explore why these areas matter and what they reveal about the maturity of your sustainability program.
Emissions intensity
Emissions intensity measures how much carbon your organization emits relative to a tangible business metric like revenue, product units, or megawatt-hours. It is one of the clearest ways to normalize performance across companies of different sizes and business models.
This metric is great for benchmarking because it helps you see beyond total emissions to understand operational efficiency. It reveals whether business growth is tied to higher emissions or if you are successfully decoupling the two. Benchmarking emissions intensity helps identify your relative emissions performance within the context of your business model.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Maintain your efficiency by prioritizing clean energy and efficiency opportunities across your operations, logistics, and product design.
- Explore whether other categories, like Scope 3, are opportunities to remain ahead of the curve.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Audit your energy use and identify operational hotspots driving higher intensity.
- Improve data quality to uncover where emissions are underreported or misaligned with output.
Verification status
Verification status reflects whether your emissions data has been reviewed or assured by an independent third party. It is about accuracy, transparency, and readiness for increasing disclosure expectations.
We believe this metric is important because verified data is the foundation of credible benchmarking. Without trusted numbers, comparisons and targets lose meaning. As disclosure regulations like CDP, TCFD, and California’s SB 253 become more common, third-party assurance will no longer be optional. It is a sign of a mature, accountable program that stakeholders can trust.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Continue conducting third-party assurance across all scopes.
- Look for opportunities to deepen your verification level, for example, moving from limited to reasonable assurance.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Start with limited assurance for Scopes 1 and 2 to build your credibility baseline.
- As data quality improves, expand to Scope 3 and higher assurance levels.
Scope 3 analysis
Scope 3 includes all indirect emissions from your value chain, from purchased goods and services to business travel and product use. For most companies, it represents the majority of total emissions.
Comprehensive scope 3 coverage is a hallmark of a mature emissions program. Benchmarking your coverage and emissions performance here, when relevant, will help you understand your program’s maturity and where you can focus your reduction strategies to have the biggest impact.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Leverage insights to identify efficiency or innovation opportunities across your value chain.
- Deepen relationships with suppliers to help them provide more accurate data and drive decarbonization at their own organizations.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Begin by measuring the most material categories for your business. Examining the most common categories reported by your peers and others in your industry may be a good place to start.
- Build partnerships with suppliers to collect more complete and reliable data over time.
Renewable energy adoption
Renewable energy adoption measures what portion of your total energy use comes from renewable sources, through on-site generation, power purchase agreements (PPAs), or renewable energy certificates (RECs).
Understanding this metric for your business and across your peers can help you understand whether your clean energy efforts match the pace of your peers and where to focus expansion next. Renewable sourcing demonstrates measurable decarbonization progress and often delivers operational savings.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Strengthen your impact through longer-term PPAs or on-site generation.
- Explore opportunities to unify renewable energy strategies across global operations.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Start with accessible wins like RECs to make immediate progress.
- Develop a roadmap toward more direct renewable sourcing options over time.
Emissions reduction initiatives
This angle captures the specific programs and projects your organization has implemented to reduce emissions, from equipment upgrades to supplier engagement and process redesign.
Benchmarking your progress on emissions reduction initiatives will help you assess whether your efforts are scaled appropriately for your goals and whether your project portfolio is as ambitious as your peers’. It also highlights where new initiatives could generate both carbon and cost savings.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Focus on measuring and communicating impact to sustain leadership and funding.
- Prioritize innovation-driven or supplier-oriented initiatives for continued momentum.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Start with efficiency programs that deliver both carbon and cost savings.
- Build internal buy-in with early wins that demonstrate measurable progress.
Science-based targets
Science-based targets align your company’s reduction goals with the global 1.5°C pathway. They are one of the clearest indicators of program maturity and commitment.
You may consider benchmarking your SBTs (and progress toward targets) if you want to understand the levels of ambition and accountability in your organization relative to your peers. It helps you understand whether your goals align with emerging standards in your sector and whether your pace of progress reflects the leadership your stakeholders expect.
If you’re performing at or above peers
- Continue investing in your efforts to meet your targets.
- Communicate your progress transparently to maintain stakeholder confidence.
If you’re lagging compared to peers
- Analyze peer targets to understand common timelines and scopes.
- Prepare your governance and data systems to support a credible SBT commitment.
Turning benchmarks into action
Benchmarks are most powerful when they lead to insight and action, not competition. They help you identify where your data is strong, where it needs refinement, and where new investment can yield the most meaningful results.
At Optera, we see benchmarking as more than measurement. It is a strategic tool that helps sustainability teams better understand the broader landscape, learn from others, build confidence in their data, and accelerate progress toward measurable climate impact.
