Our buyer wants company-wide emissions, but our group has a factory and a trading arm. Is one number fair?

Not always. The GHG Protocol says factory, unit or product-line data matters most when a supplier's emissions differ widely between its units. If your buyer purchases what one factory makes, a company total that blends in a low-emission trading arm misstates its footprint. Offer the factory figure alongside the company total.

What the standard says

The Scope 3 standard says the need for detailed data depends on how varied the supplier is. For a supplier whose units all look alike, company-level data can represent a purchase well. For a diversified supplier, where emissions intensity varies widely between business units and facilities, company-level data does not reflect the product bought, and facility or business unit data should be used instead.

How it plays out for an MSME group

• One company, one product line: the company total is fine.
• A factory plus a trading or office arm: the arm pulls the company average down, so the factory's footprint looks smaller than it is.
• Several plants making different products: ask which plant makes what the buyer purchases.

What to send

• The company total, if asked.
• The factory or plant figure for the product the buyer buys, with its fuel and power records.
• A line saying which sites are in each figure.

Why the blended number misleads (round numbers)

• The group emits 5,000 tCO2e a year: factory 4,880, trading arm 120.
• The trading arm earns 60% of revenue, the factory 40%.
• A buyer who splits the company total by revenue gives the factory 40% of 5,000 = 2,000 tCO2e.
• The factory's own records say 4,880, so the blended figure understates it by more than half.

What Senseible does here

Senseible turns your bills and invoices into verified emission records by site, so you can answer a buyer with figures you can trace to a document. Verified here means rule checks passed against the evidence. It is not third-party assurance.

• Multi-plant MSME: one report or one per plant
• Buyer sends its own carbon questionnaire
• Scope 3 supplier evidence

Sources: GHG Protocol, Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard

Last reviewed 2026-11-04.