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

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/buyer-wants-one-company-number-factory-and-trading-arm

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](https://senseible.earth/answers/multi-plant-msme-one-report-or-per-plant)
- [Buyer sends its own carbon questionnaire](https://senseible.earth/answers/buyer-sends-own-carbon-questionnaire-format)
- [Scope 3 supplier evidence](https://senseible.earth/scope-3-supplier-evidence)

Sources: [GHG Protocol, Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Corporate-Value-Chain-Accounting-Reporing-Standard_041613_2.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-04.