How does a bank count emissions from trade finance?

Trade finance falls under financed emissions, reported in Scope 3 Category 15. PCAF sets methods for asset classes such as business loans; check its current edition for trade finance. If no method applies, attribute the client's emissions by the share of its trade you financed, and explain the method.

A workable method

1. Get the client's emissions, reported or estimated.
2. Work out the share of its trade you financed over the period.
3. Multiply, and give a data quality score.

Short tenor

Trade finance turns over quickly, so use an average balance for the year rather than a year-end figure.

What Senseible does here

Senseible turns a borrower's own bills and invoices into dated, fingerprinted emission records, so a lender can use measured data in place of sector averages wherever the borrower shares it.

• PCAF score for MSME borrowers
• Mutual fund footprint

Sources: PCAF, Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.