Carbon footprint: Scope and calculation methodology for CO2 emissions

The GHG emissions inventory of Cellnex Group has been prepared according to the ISO 14064-1:2018 standard, and GHG statements related to GHG inventories and procedures have been independently (third-party) verified following the standard ISO 14064-3:2019 achieving a limited level of assurance.

The scope of Cellnex Group carbon footprint for the year 2021 includes the following business units, that represents a 97% of the Group's revenues:

Cellnex Group has been preparing their GHG emissions inventory in accordance with the International ISO 14064 Standard since 2015. In the internal procedure of the GHG emissions information management there is a summary table with the organizational and reporting boundaries included between 2015 and 2019 in Cellnex's GHG inventories.

Due to the expansion of the countries where the company operates and the addition of indirect GHG emission categories as set out in the new International ISO 14064-1: 2018 Standard and GHG Protocol, Cellnex has established 2020 as the base year for GHG emissions for comparative purposes and other GHG programs requirements and intended uses. Furthermore, the 2020 carbon footprint has been recalculated according to the GHG Protocol, as there have been relevant structural and methodological changes in 2021:

• Structural changes in the reporting organization that have a significant impact on the company’s base year emissions. Structural changes that include acquisitions of new companies and countries have occurred. Regarding the carbon footprint of 2020, companies from the following countries have been added to the scope in 2021: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Poland, and Sweden. In addition, the Group has also acquired a new companies in The Netherlands (also in France, but this acquisition has not been factored in the carbon footprint calculation).
• 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. In this case, the methodology for calculating the categories of indirect emissions from the purchase of goods and services and capital goods has been improved.

In summary, base year emissions have been retroactively recalculated to reflect changes in the company that would otherwise compromise the consistency and relevance of the reported GHG emissions information.

The results of the carbon footprint of Cellnex Group correspond to the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. The GHG emissions inventory maintains the structure and content established by the reference standard ISO 14064-1:2018, as well as the GHG Protocol. The GHG inventory includes the quantification of direct GHG emissions separately for CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, NF₃, SF₆ and other GHG groups (HFCs, PFCs, etc.) in tonnes of CO₂e, as well as the indirect GHG emissions separated by categories in the same units. Besides, Cellnex does not present biogenic GHG emissions or removals.

To calculate the carbon footprint of Cellnex Group the approach of financial control has been considered. According to the ISO 14064-1:2018 methodology, GHG emissions have be aggregated into the following categories at the organizational level:

Following the “Guidance for the process of identifying significant indirect GHG emissions” included in ISO 14064-1:2018 Standard, Cellnex Group has defined its global criteria to evaluate the relevance of each indirect GHG emissions subcategory.

The principles that have been taken into account when applying the criteria are relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy and transparency.

The criteria used to evaluate the significance of indirect emissions include the following:

• Magnitude: emissions that are assumed to be quantitatively substantial. Are considered not relevant all categories which its GHG emissions contributes less than a 5% to the global carbon footprint.
• Level of influence: the organization has the ability to monitor and reduce these emissions.
• Risk or opportunity: indirect emissions that contribute to the organization’s exposure to risk or its opportunity for business.
• Sector-specific guidance: GHG emissions deemed as significant by the business sector.
• Outsourcing: indirect emissions resulting from outsourced activities that are typically core business activities.
• Employee engagement: indirect emissions that could motivate employees to reduce energy use or fight climate change

With this analysis, in 2020 it was concluded that the following subcategories of indirect GHG emissions were considered non-significant: Upstream transport and distribution, Disposal of waste, Use of assets leased by the organization, Downstream leased assets owned by the organization and Investments. These subcategories were then excluded from the 2020 GHG emissions inventory. However, due to the setting of SBT targets, in 2021 all emission categories have been considered as significant, and have been included in the carbon footprint results.

The quantification model obtains the amount of emissions by source by multiplying the activity data by its correspondent emission factor. The emission factors are obtained from reliable and official sources (IPCC and other relevant sources).