Why Scope 3 Emissions Are the Key to Real Climate Progress
Why Scope 3 Emissions Are the Key to Real Climate Progress
Insights from BDO Sustainability's webinar on CO₂ measurement and reduction
Most organisations today have some grip on their direct emissions — the gas they burn, the diesel in their fleet, the electricity they consume. But the real climate story lies elsewhere. As mentioned in the webinar hosted by BDO Netherlands, Scope 3 emissions can represent up to 90% of a company's total carbon footprint. And yet, they remain the least understood.So what exactly is Scope 3?
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the global standard for CO₂ measurement, divides emissions into three categories. Scope 1 covers direct emissions within your own operations. Scope 2 covers purchased energy. Scope 3 is everything else: the materials and services you buy, transport to and from your site, employee commuting, business travel, and the downstream use and disposal of the products you sell.For a typical manufacturing company, Scope 3 accounts for 80–85%, sometimes 90%, of total emissions. For logistics and retail businesses, it often exceeds 90%. Even service companies, which sell expertise rather than products, typically see Scope 3 at roughly half their total footprint. As one panellist put it: "If you don't know your Scope 3, you're navigating blind."
Why it still matters — even with shifting regulation
Some organisations are watching regulatory momentum slow and wondering whether to pause. The panel was clear: the strategic case hasn't changed. CSRD legislation continues to apply to larger companies — and those companies will pass the requirements down their supply chains. If your customer is CSRD-obligated, they will ask you for your Scope 1, 2, and 3 data, because it feeds directly into their own Scope 3 reporting. Sector initiatives like the Green Deal for sustainable healthcare are making similar demands. Supply chain pressure, not just legislation, is driving this forward.There's also a risk dimension that goes beyond compliance. Geopolitical instability, the kind that suddenly makes supply chains feel very fragile, is another reason to understand and reduce your emissions. Dependency on fossil fuels and carbon-heavy suppliers creates business continuity risk. Getting control of your Scope 3 means getting control of your exposure.
Start broad, then go deep
One of the clearest messages from the webinar was this: don't let the complexity of Scope 3 become an excuse for inaction. Organisations often have data on some emission categories but not others, and instinctively decide to wait until the picture is complete. Although this may seem like a logical response, it is not the right way to approach it.A rough estimate across your full footprint, or even a back-of-the-envelope calculation, is more valuable than a precise measurement of only part of it. If you know that employee commuting represents 5% of your total emissions and purchased materials represent 60%, that tells you exactly where to focus your reduction efforts. Spending money on the 5% while the 60% goes unmeasured is a costly mistake.The recommendation from the panel: start with your full value chain, use broad estimates where detailed data isn't available, and refine your measurements over time in parallel with your transition planning. Measurement and action don't need to happen sequentially — they evolve together.
Set goals that are ambitious, honest, and shared
When it comes to reduction targets, the panel emphasised three things above all: make them realistic, make them granular, and make them belong to the whole organisation — not just the sustainability manager.Science-based targets (SBTi) provide a useful benchmark for ambition, grounded in what the Paris Agreement requires. But the honest message from the panel was that even companies who committed early are finding Scope 3 harder than expected. Transparency about that — acknowledging the gap between aspiration and achievement while explaining what you're doing about it — is far healthier than overclaiming. Interim milestones matter. A 2050 net-zero target without stepping stones is unmanageable. Setting targets by emission category, and linking them to the people in the business who actually influence those categories — procurement, fleet management, energy — is what makes reduction plans real.
