# How do I estimate emissions from companies I hold shares in when they publish no inventory, using revenue and sector factors?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/equity-investments-average-data-revenue-times-eeio

Multiply each investee's revenue by an environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) factor for its sector, then by your share of equity, and add. If an investee works in two sectors, split its revenue by sector. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's example prints 2,242,500, but one line multiplies out to 990,000, not 900,000.

## The steps

1. List the sector or sectors each investee operates in.
2. Take its revenue, split by sector if it operates in more than one.
3. Take your share of its equity.
4. Pick the EEIO factor for each sector, in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per dollar of revenue.
5. Multiply revenue by factor for each sector, add the sectors, multiply by your share, and add the investees.

## Which boundary the factor covers

The minimum boundary is the investee's Scope 1 and 2. EEIO factors include all upstream emissions, so the guide says to disaggregate the factor to separate Scope 1 and 2 from the rest where possible. If that is not possible, use the full factor and clearly disclose which boundary you used.

The guide also says to account for significant changes in exchange rates and inflation over time, and, if possible, to use EEIO data for the region where the investee is located.

## What this method cannot do

The guide says EEIO factors are sector averages, so you cannot tell investees in one sector apart, and you cannot track an investee's emissions over time. It is a way to see which sectors matter most, after which investee-specific data is needed for the hotspots.

## Two things to check in the printed example

- Investee 4 is split 60 percent food and beverage at 2.0 and 40 percent apparel at 1.5. Its line, (5,500,000 x 0.6 x 2) + (5,500,000 x 0.4 x 1.5), is 6,600,000 + 3,300,000 = 9,900,000, and times 10 percent is 990,000. The guide prints 900,000. With 990,000 the total is 2,332,500, which is 90,000 more than the printed 2,242,500. The printed total does add up from the printed parts.
- The factors are in kilograms per dollar, so revenue in dollars times the factor is in kilograms. The guide labels the result tonnes. Check units before you copy the layout (our reading).

## The guide's four-investee example, multiplied out

- Investee 1: 3,000,000 x 0.6 = 1,800,000; x 5% = 90,000
- Investee 2: 7,500,000 x 0.5 = 3,750,000; x 15% = 562,500
- Investee 3: 1,150,000 x 3 = 3,450,000; x 20% = 690,000
- Investee 4: 6,600,000 + 3,300,000 = 9,900,000; x 10% = 990,000 (the guide prints 900,000)
- Total: 90,000 + 562,500 + 690,000 + 990,000 = 2,332,500 kilograms CO2e (the guide prints tonnes). The guide prints 2,242,500, which is the sum with 900,000

Revenues, shares and factors are the guide's example values, which it says do not refer to actual data. The corrected line is our arithmetic and shows only that the printed line and its inputs disagree.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which covers your own Scope 1 and 2. It does not hold investee revenue or sector factors, and it does not work out Category 15.

- [A 26 percent stake in a joint venture](https://senseible.earth/answers/equity-stake-in-joint-venture-scope-3)
- [What a spend-based factor includes](https://senseible.earth/answers/eeio-spend-factor-what-it-means)
- [Shareholdings in Category 15, with threshold](https://senseible.earth/answers/equity-investment-specific-method-and-small-stake-threshold)
- [Fixed deposits and mutual funds](https://senseible.earth/answers/company-fixed-deposits-and-mutual-funds-scope-3)

Sources: [Greenhouse Gas Protocol Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Category 15 (average-data method, Formula 15.2 and Example 15.2)](https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Chapter15.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Investee 4 was multiplied out from the guide's own printed inputs. Re-check against the guide if it is reissued.