Scope 3 GHG Emissions
Definition
Scope 3 GHG Emissions. All other Indirect GHG Emissions (not included in Scope 2 GHG Emissions) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company or entity, including both upstream and downstream emissions.
Scope 3 is an optional reporting category that allows for the treatment of all other indirect emissions.
Scope 3 emissions are other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities (e.g. transmission and distribution losses) not covered in Scope 2 GHG Emissions, outsourced activities, use of sold products, waste disposal, etc.
In the context of the City GHG Protocol, Scope 3 emissions all other GHG emissions that occur outside the city boundary as a result of activities taking place within the city boundary.[1]
Upstream versus Downstream Scope 3 Emissions
Scope 3 emissions can be broken down into:
- upstream emissions that occur in the supply chain (for example, from production or extraction of purchased materials) and
- downstream emissions that occur as a consequence of using the organization’s products or services.
Significance
For some business sectors scope 3 emissions may form the majority of emission (e.g. as consumers use a company's products) and are thus essential in capturing the full Climate-Related Risk profile of said sectors.
Standards
There are existing international and European standards on the matter, that could serve for the calculation of scope 3 emissions
- ISO 14064 on standards for greenhouse gas accounting and verification
- the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and
- Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF)
Examples
- Emissions of logistics
- Emissions of business trips
- Emissions of employees' commuter traffic
- Emissions of upstream chains
- Emissions of purchased materials
- Emissions of product utilisation phase
- Emissions of product or waste disposal
- Outsourced activities
Calculation
Scope 3 GHG emissions will primarily be calculated from activity data such as fuel use or passenger miles and published or third-party emission factors. In most cases, if source- or facility-specific emission factors are available, they are preferable to more generic or general emission factors.
Issues and Challenges
- Scope 3 emissions data are typically estimates rather than measurements (GHG Data Types)
- Carbon footprint approaches must allocate the responsibility for scope 3 emissions across industries without double counting (GHG Emissions Double Counting)
See Also
References
- As defined in[2]
