# How do I get emissions data from tier-2 suppliers I don't buy from directly?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-get-emissions-data-from-tier-2-suppliers

Mostly through your tier-1 supplier. Ask them for a cradle-to-gate footprint of what they sell you, which already includes their own suppliers, and ask them to request material-level data from their key sub-suppliers. Go to tier 2 directly only for a few high-impact materials, such as steel, aluminium, resins or chemicals.

## Why tier 2 is already inside a tier-1 footprint

Under the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, Category 1 covers the cradle-to-gate emissions of what you buy: everything from extracting raw materials to the product leaving your supplier's gate. A tier-1 product footprint done properly therefore includes tier 2, tier 3 and beyond. If you add tier-2 emissions on top of it, you count them twice.

## Find where tier 2 matters

1. Rank your purchases by spend and mass, then by material carbon intensity.
2. For the top items, ask the tier-1 supplier what the main input material is, how much they use per unit, and which mill, smelter or plant it comes from.
3. Focus on the few materials that make up most of the footprint. Basic metals, cement, plastics and chemicals usually dominate; packaging and consumables rarely do.

## Three ways to get the data

- Cascade: tier 1 asks its key sub-suppliers for product-level figures and builds them into its own footprint, then passes the total to you. The PACT Pathfinder Framework sets out how product footprints are calculated and exchanged along a chain so each tier can reuse the one before.
- Hybrid: tier 1 gives you its own allocated Scope 1 and 2 plus the quantity of each main input; you multiply inputs by the producer's published intensity or a sourced factor.
- Direct: for a large, concentrated input, such as steel from one mill, ask the producer for its plant-specific intensity, or use what it publishes, and record that you did.

## Making it stick

- Put a data clause in tier-1 contracts that requires them to pass on requests to key sub-suppliers.
- Give one template and one deadline across all suppliers, and accept estimates first, with a plan to replace them.
- Record for each figure whether it is primary from tier 1, primary from tier 2, or a secondary factor, so data quality is visible.
- Revisit yearly; a change of mill or resin grade can move the footprint more than any process change.

## Worked example: hybrid footprint for forged parts (illustrative)

- Purchase: 100 t of forgings from a tier-1 forging supplier
- Tier 1 own Scope 1 and 2, allocated: 0.35 t CO2e per t x 100 t = 35 t
- Steel bar input at 91% yield: 110 t, from a mill reporting 2.2 t CO2e per t
- Tier 2 steel: 110 x 2.2 = 242 t
- Cradle-to-gate total: 35 + 242 = 277 t, or 2.77 t CO2e per t of forgings

All factors are illustrative. Here tier 2 is almost 90% of the total, which is why the mill's figure matters more than the forging shop's.

## What Senseible does here

A tier-1 supplier can build a document-backed emissions number from its own invoices and bills in Senseible and pass it on, and Senseible's enterprise offer supports supplier programmes. It does not reach tier-2 suppliers on your behalf or exchange data automatically along the chain.

- [Supplier data collection playbook](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/supplier-emissions-data-collection-playbook-msme)
- [PACT Pathfinder Framework explained](https://senseible.earth/answers/pact-pathfinder-framework-explained)
- [Which suppliers to engage first](https://senseible.earth/answers/which-suppliers-to-engage-first-on-scope-3)
- [Supplier emissions for enterprises](https://senseible.earth/enterprise)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard and Scope 3 Technical Guidance, Category 1](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [WBCSD, PACT Pathfinder Framework and Technical Specifications for PCF data exchange](https://www.wbcsd.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-15.