Tool: Snapshot

Snapshot is a collaboration between environmental consultancy Ironbark Sustainability and climate think tank Beyond Zero Emissions to develop GHG emission profiles for all municipalities and states in Australia.

Specifications

Suitable for which city climate journey stage?	Establishing an emissions baseline
Tool strengths	- Aligned with GPC and CRF - Publicly available methodology - Provides emissions data for states and regions as well as cities - The emissions for individual cities add up to the national level emissions for Australia enabling cities to directly compare with neighbouring cities and assess their contribution to Australia’s NDC - Key emitters' data (via Safeguard and NGERS) for large organizations predominantly in the industrial sector have been integrated, resulting in better accuracy on emissions sources
Tool limitations	- Only available for local governments in Australia
Geographic location/countries	Australia
Language	English
Accessibility	Free for summary data, pay for detailed activity and emissions data
Methodology	Snapshot emissions data is a combination of modelled and local-sourced data. The modelled data is downscaled from global, national and state-level activity data to municipality level using relevant scaling metrics, including population, number of households and number of businesses. Local-sourced data is derived from a range of original data generator sources and converted to emissions using global, national and state-level emission factors. Other local activity data includes Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSP) data, where available. Since 2018, the tool integrates transport activity data from Google Environmental Insights Explorer for some municipalities, combining it with national datasets and converting it to emissions using conversion and emission factors.
Documentation of methodology	Methodology publicly available at https://snapshotclimate.com.au/media/jc_media/2022/12/22/CIU_SNP_005_Methodology_v1a.pdf.
Data quality/verified by 3rd party	Data quality is not currently assessed. Snapshot data, methodology, and calculations have been independently verified and endorsed by ICLEI Oceania, Sustainability Victoria, and Renew.
Alignment with global standards and protocols (eg GPC and CRF)	Aligned with the GPC and CRF
Emissions scopes	1, 2, 3
GHGs	CO2, CH4, N2O
Sectors included	Stationary energy, transport, waste, AFOLU, IPPU
Scopes, GHGs and sectors excluded	GHGs: HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3. Sectors: some fugitive emissions, water-based transport, other solid waste, some AFOLU sub-sectors
Temporal resolution	Annual
Spatial resolution	City boundary
Functionality for city to make adjustments	Some local data from individual municipalities has been integrated into the Snapshot emissions profiles. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Contact Snapshot for more information.
Latest accounting year	2020-2021
Frequency of data updates	Annual
Units	Metric tonnes (t CO2e)
Using the tool, data outputs and how it can be exported	Cities can view their local emissions profiles by visiting the Snapshot website. Cities can access a webpage report of their total and sectoral breakdown of emissions free of charge by searching for their municipality or state. To download a PDF version of the report, cities must sign up, free of charge, to Snapshot. Snapshot also provides the data in an excel file in CRF format. Cities need to pay to access this excel-based output. The excel output results in a baseline inventory that satisfies GCoM and is aligned with the format of the CRF.
Additional tool functionalities	None