Knowledge base · CO₂ and carbon

Scope 3 mapped in practice

Scope 3 emissions are all indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain of an organisation, beyond the direct emissions of its own operations (scope 1) and purchased energy (scope 2). They span the full life cycle of products, from raw material extraction and procurement to use and waste processing, and often account for 70 to 90 percent of the total CO₂ footprint. That is where most of the work, and most of the reduction potential, lies.

The approach See the evidence For governments

scope 3 categories in the GHG Protocol

70–90%

share of the total CO₂ footprint

≈75%

average across all sectors (CDP)

96%

in scope 3 at Dura Vermeer (2023)

What scope 3 covers

Scope 3 is the third category within the GHG Protocol, the global standard for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It sits alongside the direct emissions of own operations (scope 1) and the emissions of purchased energy (scope 2). The difference is the location of the emissions: scope 1 and 2 fall within the own gate, scope 3 in the chain before and after it.

Scope	What it covers
Scope 1	Direct emissions from own sources, such as fuel in vehicles and heating boilers.
Scope 2	Indirect emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity and heat.
Scope 3	All other indirect emissions in the chain, both upstream (procurement, transport) and downstream (use, end of life).

Scope 3 splits into upstream and downstream. Upstream covers everything before the own activity, downstream everything after it. Examples of sources are raw material extraction, third-party transport, employee commuting, and the energy customers consume with a sold product.

Upstream · before the own activity

Purchased goods and services, often the largest category
Transport and distribution by third parties
Commuting and business travel
Extraction and processing of raw materials

Downstream · after the own activity

Use of sold products
Energy customers consume
Processing and waste at the end of life
Transport to the end user

The GHG Protocol distinguishes fifteen scope 3 categories, from purchased goods and services to the use of sold products. For municipalities and areas, a territorial variant exists, the GPC Protocol, which applies the same logic to a geographic area. A full breakdown per category is in the definition: What is scope 3?

Scope is relative to the system boundary. What is scope 3 for one organisation falls under scope 1 or 2 for another. The emissions do not disappear, only the attribution shifts, which is why a clear boundary is the first step of any calculation.

How New Economy maps scope 3

Scope 3 sits outside the direct control of an organisation and depends on data from suppliers and customers. That makes it the hardest scope to measure, but also the most important: without scope 3, the largest part of the footprint stays invisible. Ten years of analyses and calculations point to the same route: a phased approach that keeps the calculation workable and steerable.

1Begin with the largest categories. A first estimate shows which categories dominate, often purchased goods and the use of sold products.

2Start with proxy data. Average emission factors, spend-based where needed, give a first picture of the chain.

3Refine with life-cycle assessments. An LCA maps the impact per life stage of the most important products, activity-based.

4Request primary chain data. For the largest value-chain partners, the work moves towards supplier data instead of averages.

Evidence

Scope 3 already calculated in practice

New Economy calculated scope 3 in CO₂ footprints, baseline measurements and life-cycle assessments for companies in construction, healthcare, insulation and biobased materials. Hard figures, free to use under CC BY 4.0, with attribution.

Best practice

Dura Vermeer: scope 1, 2 and 3 for CSRD

96%

of Dura Vermeer’s CO₂ emissions sit in scope 3, the chain outside own ownership

View the case

Figure563,300 tonnes CO₂

Total footprint of Dura Vermeer across scope 1, 2 and 3, as the basis for CSRD reporting.

New Economy & 2Impact · 2023 MethodMeasurement and reporting handbook

Developed for Dura Vermeer to measure and report the footprint across scope 1, 2 and 3 repeatably.

New Economy & 2Impact · 2022 Client case~70% CO₂ reduction

At JOYinCARE, a baseline measurement and LCA mapped the product impact; targeted changes make almost 70% reduction possible.

Healthcare and textiles · baseline + LCA Client caseNet CO₂-negative

For Wesselink Isolatie, a baseline measurement showed that the saving from the insulation is almost twice the production impact.

Construction and insulation · baseline Client caseHotspots in the chain

For Fairm, a baseline measurement mapped the climate impact of mycelium insulation, from purchased materials to energy use.

Biobased materials · baseline Quickscan0.24–0.39 Mt CO₂-eq

The annual impact of the bicycle product group in the Netherlands, estimated by extrapolating life-cycle assessments.

Circular bicycle quickscan · RVO LCA15x lower impact

A steel city bike has a 15x lower environmental impact than an electric aluminium bike, according to the impact analysis.

Circular bicycle quickscan · impact analysis

Scope 3 for governments: area and chain in view

For a municipality or province, scope 3 is broader than the footprint of its own organisation. The largest emissions sit in the area and in the chains that run through the territory: the construction, food, mobility and procurement of an entire region. A climate or circularity policy that ignores scope 3 misses most of the picture. The first question is therefore always one of boundaries.

The scoping question

Own organisation, the entire area, or everything in between? Which emissions count towards which objective, and which deliberately do not?

Steering without complete data

How is the impact and effectiveness of policy and projects measured when complete chain data is missing? Linking indicators to concrete actions makes steering possible regardless.

From spend-based to activity-based

Which KPIs work upstream and downstream, which open data is usable, and when does a spend-based estimate suffice against an activity-based calculation?

Part of the task lies with the national government: better data quality and availability for scope 3 and circularity, and a bridge between the national scope 3 calculation for the Netherlands and the local dimension. Alignment between municipalities on shared KPIs prevents every authority from reinventing the wheel.

New Economy works through these questions together with municipalities and provinces in an open conversation, and applies the boundary in quantified climate plans. In the Climate Action Recap for Gelderland, scope 3 marks the solutions whose gains fall outside the territory.

0.675–1.126 Mt

CO₂-eq reduction potential of a plant-rich diet in Gelderland in 2030, a scope 3 solution that falls outside the territorial sector totals.

The agriculture and land-use sector analysis puts it this way: „A plant-rich diet is a scope 3 solution: emission reductions do not occur solely within Gelderland and therefore do not count towards the final totals.” Read the agriculture and land-use sector analysis.

The approach for regions Request an open conversation

Projects where scope 3 was calculated

From company footprint to regional climate accounting: the projects in which value-chain emissions were concretely calculated.

Best practiceScope 1, 2 and 3 for CSRD

Dura Vermeer: 96% in scope 3, 563,300 tonnes CO₂ as the basis for CSRD reporting.

View the case → Client case70% CO₂ reduction in healthcare

JOYinCARE: baseline measurement and LCA of product and organisation.

View the case → Client caseNet CO₂-negative insulation

Wesselink Isolatie: baseline measurement of the CO₂ impact of operations.

View the case → Client caseMycelium insulation hotspots

Fairm: baseline measurement and hotspots, from purchased materials to energy use.

View the case → Example projectProduct Footprint manufacturing

Overijssel: life-cycle assessment per product family, from radar to salt spreader.

View the project → QuickscanCircular bicycle

RVO: the environmental impact of the bicycle product group via life-cycle assessments.

View the project → Climate Action RecapAgriculture & land use Gelderland

Plant-rich diet as a scope 3 solution outside the territorial totals.

View the sector →

From scope 3 to product

Scope 3 becomes concrete in three services from New Economy, each aimed at a different use: the full footprint, the impact per product, and the substantiation for compliance.

Footprint baseline

Scope 1, 2 and 3 in view as a CO₂ footprint, phased from proxy data to primary chain data.

View the service → Product Footprint

Life-cycle assessment per product, with the emissions per life stage and the scope 3 hotspots in the chain.

View the service → Compliance baseline

Scope 3 reporting substantiated for the CSRD and the accompanying ESRS standards.

View the service →

Scope 3 and compliance

Under the CSRD and the ESRS standards, reporting on material scope 3 emissions is mandatory. A double materiality assessment helps determine which value-chain categories matter, and a Science Based Target links the reduction goal to a scientific carbon budget.

What is scope 3? What is a life-cycle assessment? What is the CSRD? What is double materiality? Knowledge base

Frequently asked questions about scope 3

What is scope 3?

Scope 3 covers all indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain of an organisation, from raw material extraction and procurement to the use and waste processing of sold products. It is the third category within the GHG Protocol, alongside scope 1 and scope 2.

What is the difference between upstream and downstream scope 3?

Upstream scope 3 covers everything before the own activity: purchased goods and services, transport, commuting and business travel. Downstream covers everything after: the use, processing and waste treatment of sold products. The GHG Protocol divides scope 3 into fifteen categories.

Where does mapping scope 3 begin?

With a clear definition of the system boundary and with the largest categories. What is scope 3 for one organisation falls under scope 1 or 2 for another, so the boundary comes first. After that follows a first estimate of the dominant categories and refinement with life-cycle assessments and primary data.

How large is scope 3 in practice?

Often 70 to 90 percent of the total CO₂ footprint, on average around three quarters across all sectors. At construction group Dura Vermeer, 96 percent of emissions turned out to sit in scope 3, on a total of 563,300 tonnes CO₂.

Does scope 3 also apply to a municipality or province?

Yes. For a government, the largest emissions rarely sit in its own organisation, but in the area and the chains that run through the territory, such as construction, food and mobility. A territorial variant of the GHG Protocol, the GPC Protocol, applies the same logic to a region.

What is the difference between spend-based and activity-based measurement?

A spend-based method derives emissions from expenditure via average emission factors and gives a quick first picture. An activity-based method works with physical quantities, such as kilometres or kilograms of material, and is more accurate. In practice a combination works best: spend-based for breadth, activity-based for the largest categories.

Is scope 3 mandatory for the CSRD?

Under the CSRD and the ESRS standards, reporting on material scope 3 emissions is mandatory. For nearly every organisation those emissions are material. A double materiality assessment helps determine which value-chain categories matter.

What does scope 3 mean in a regional climate plan?

In a regional climate plan, scope 3 marks the solutions whose emission gains lie in the chain, outside the territorial boundary. In the Climate Action Recap for Gelderland this applies to a plant-rich diet, with a reduction potential of 0.675 to 1.126 Mt CO₂-eq in 2030, which therefore does not count towards the sector totals.

Scope 3 mapped?

From a baseline measurement to a substantiated reduction target, for an organisation, product, chain or region.

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