Scope 3 emissions
All other indirect emissions in an organisation’s value chain, upstream and downstream, not covered by Scope 1 or Scope 2.
Scope 3 is divided by the GHG Protocol into 15 categories: eight upstream (purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, upstream transport, waste, business travel, employee commuting, leased assets) and seven downstream (transport and distribution, processing and use of sold products, end-of-life treatment, leased assets, franchises, investments).
For most companies Scope 3 is the largest share, often 70–90% of the total footprint according to CDP disclosures. For oil and gas producers, Category 11 (use of sold products) is dominant: burning the fuel a company sells typically emits 5–10 times its own operational emissions. For a solar developer, Category 2 (capital goods) dominates, since module manufacturing accounts for most lifecycle emissions.
Data quality is the main weakness. Spend-based environmentally extended input-output factors are quick but coarse; supplier-specific or product LCA data are preferred. Mandatory reporting is expanding through the EU CSRD (European Sustainability Reporting Standards, ESRS E1) and the ISSB IFRS S2 standard, both of which require Scope 3 disclosure subject to phase-in reliefs.
Related terms
All terms →- Scope 1 emissions
Direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by a reporting organisation, such as boilers, furnaces, vehicles and process emissions.
- Scope 2 emissions
Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heat or cooling consumed by a reporting organisation.
- Lifecycle emissions
Total greenhouse gas emissions of a product or power source across its full life, from raw material extraction and manufacturing through operation to decommissioning.
- Net zero
A state in which anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period, so net additions to the atmosphere are zero.