What Is a CO2e Confidence Score?

Bend uses the best data available for every CO2e estimate. Some CO2e estimates are high-resolution; others are lower-resolution, and therefore contain more uncertainty. We value transparency, and want to pass along as much information as possible about the accuracy of each CO2e estimate.

The quality score is 0-10. The higher the score, the less uncertainty.

The most precise CO2e estimates, on Bend and elsewhere, include line-item-level activity information. Imagine you purchase something at Amazon — with our Amazon Business integration, we know not just your cart total, but the specifics of your purchase — whether you purchased paper towels or laptops, etc. Using this detailed, line-item information, Bend can construct a CO2e estimate that includes the specifics of the items you purchased, as well as factoring in the operational overhead, shipping, etc. of that purchase.

The next rung down on the quality ladder is detailed, 3rd-party-audited merchant data. E.g. if you purchase a Salesforce license, Bend has very detailed information about the Salesforce carbon footprint. The fresher the data (e.g. a 2023 report is more reliable vs. a 2021 report), the more comprehensive the data, the less anomalous the greenhouse inventory info, etc. all contribute to greater confidence.

Of course not all businesses (yet!) share data about their greenhouse gas inventory, and so in cases where we don't have merchant-specific information, we rely on category fallbacks. In some cases we have MCC category information, which is a relatively detailed (though imperfect), universal category schema. In other cases we rely on interpreting the categories from your accounting service, which tend to be coarser, and therefore contain more uncertainty.

How can I improve the overall confidence score of my organization's CO2e footprint?

Adding more data sources improves your data quality score. For example, connecting your Amazon Business account greatly increases the data quality of your Amazon purchase CO2e estimates.