Scope 3 GHG Emissions - Emissions beyond the own fence

Since January 2010, 70 corporations have been road-testing two new global standards by measuring the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their products and supply chains. These standards are part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, which provides standards and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a GHG emissions inventory. These new standards are focusing on the “indirect” emissions which occur beyond one’s own company or organisational boundaries, the so called Scope 3 emissions.

PE INTERNATIONAL is heavily involved in this process and is participating in the technical working groups preparing the standards. PEI also supports the GHG Protocol Initiative on special issues such as land use change and is now an official software provider for the road testing stage. A third of the testing companies are using PE INTERNATIONAL’s GaBi and SoFi software to record and assess their GHG emissions.


The GHG inventory of a company can be divided into three boundary categories –Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 includes all direct emissions of corporations, for instance the energy production on site or the use of the Company car fleet. Scope 2 encompasses the emissions of purchased energy, which don’t occur on the company site, such as electricity or district heat. The GHG emissions of activities which are beyond company boundaries but related to company operations are described as Scope 3. These include, for example, employee commuting or business travel, emissions by suppliers or from the use of a product.


The new GHG Protocol Standards will provide a standardized method to inventory emissions associated with individual products across their full life cycle and corporate value chains, taking into account impacts both upstream and downstream of a company’s operations.


The entire life cycle needs to be considered to avoid ‘environmental problem shifting’. Companies, who involve the supply chain as well as the use and end-of-life phases, stand to gain more credibility for their environmental activities and will have a strategic competitive advantage in the long term.

Moreover, measuring these indirect emissions provides companies with a comprehensive base of information. Companies acquire knowledge about the entire impact of their activities and products and can make sounder decisions.

For information regarding WRI road-testing or the new standards, please contact Michael Spielmann.