Ask the right suppliers first, for the right thing.

Pick what your suppliers sell and how big each is. Get who to ask first and what to ask.

You cannot chase every supplier for carbon data in year one. Most of your Scope 3 (the emissions behind what you buy, like the farm and the truck behind a loaf of bread) sits with a few of them.

No tonnes are shown on purpose: this sorts who to ask, it does not estimate their emissions.

The 80 percent cut and the 1 percent line are the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's example cuts, not a rule.

1. What do your suppliers sell you?

• Steel and aluminium
• Fertilisers and cement
• Castings, forgings and machined parts
• Heat treatment, plating and other outsourced steps
• Yarn, fabric and garments
• Packaging and cartons
• Freight and logistics
• Waste handlers
• Traders and resellers
• Software and professional services
• Rent

2. How big is each in your spend?

Large: your biggest, about 80 percent of spend together. Middle: over 1 percent each. Small: under 1 percent.

Steel and aluminium

Goods under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) go first at any spend. Real data from the maker can cut your EU buyer's cost.

• Tonnes bought per product, from your tax invoices
• A product footprint (the emissions per kilogram of what you buy), or the plant's emissions with production by product
• The works address where it was made, not only the billing office

Fertilisers and cement

Goods under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) go first at any spend.

• Tonnes bought per product, from your tax invoices
• A product footprint, or the plant's emissions with production by product
• The works address where it was made

Castings, forgings and machined parts

Contract makers and material suppliers carry most of the footprint of what you buy.

• Quantity and unit per part, from invoices
• A product footprint if they have one. If not, the plant emissions with production by product
• If the plant makes many products, how they split the plant's emissions between them

Heat treatment, plating and other outsourced steps

These steps once ran in your factory, so their energy sat in your Scope 1 and 2. Outsourcing moved it to Scope 3.

• Fuel and electricity used for your jobs, by month, with the bills behind them
• Production by product, so your share of the plant can be worked out

Yarn, fabric and garments

Purchased yarn or fabric can outweigh the factory many times over.

• Kilograms of yarn or fabric per product, from invoices
• A product footprint, or the plant energy with production by product

Packaging and cartons

Weight times a material factor is usually enough. Ask only if the spend is large.

• Kilograms of each material bought, from invoices
• Material type, for example kraft paper or plastic

Freight and logistics

Transport you pay for counts in your Scope 3. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol lists logistics firms among suppliers to approach.

• Fuel litres, or tonnes moved and kilometres per trip, from lorry receipts and e-way bills
• The transporter's fuel slips

Waste handlers

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol lists waste firms among suppliers to approach, if the spend is large.

• Tonnes of each waste and how it was treated, from disposal invoices and manifests

Traders and resellers

A trader that resells without processing adds little itself. Reach the maker behind it if you can.

• The name and works address of the maker behind the goods

Software and professional services

Large spend, low emissions. Spend based estimates are good enough.

Rent

Large spend, low emissions. Estimate it, do not chase it.

How to send the request

1. Start with your top five to ten, plus any supplier of goods under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, electricity. Use averages for the rest and rank again next year.
2. Ask for the most product specific figure they have: product, then production line, then plant, then whole company. Each step down needs more guessing, and a plant with many products must split its emissions between them.
3. Ask suppliers you hold a purchase order with first. These tier 1 suppliers (your direct suppliers) are where you have most leverage. Their own suppliers come later.
4. Get written permission on how you may use their figures. Where several suppliers make the same part, keep each one's numbers from the others.

Spend size is only a shortcut. The real order is by estimated emissions, so big spend on software or rent still means averages. Where each kind lands is our reading of the GHG Protocol screening steps. Your own spend and contracts may move one up or down.

Next: send the request

Senseible helps a buyer send each supplier its own request link and see who has opened and who has shared.

Send supplier requests