Scope 3 Emissions in India: A Practical Guide for Listed Companies

Scope 3 emissions typically represent 70-90% of a company total carbon footprint, yet most Indian companies struggle to measure them. This guide provides a practical approach to Scope 3 measurement for BRSR reporting.

What Are Scope 3 Emissions?

Scope 3 emissions are all indirect GHG emissions that occur in a company value chain — both upstream (supply chain) and downstream (product use, end-of-life). The GHG Protocol defines 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 in BRSR

In the BRSR framework, Scope 3 emissions reporting is currently a Leadership Indicator under Principle 6. While not mandatory, reporting Scope 3 is increasingly expected by investors, ESG rating agencies, and value chain partners.

The 15 Scope 3 Categories

Upstream Categories

1. Purchased goods and services
2. Capital goods
3. Fuel and energy-related activities (not in Scope 1 or 2)
4. Upstream transportation and distribution
5. Waste generated in operations
6. Business travel
7. Employee commuting
8. Upstream leased assets

Downstream Categories

9. Downstream transportation and distribution
10. Processing of sold products
11. Use of sold products
12. End-of-life treatment of sold products
13. Downstream leased assets
14. Franchises
15. Investments

Getting Started

1. Screen — Identify which categories are material using our ScopeTracer tool
2. Prioritise — Focus on the 3-5 largest categories first
3. Estimate — Use spend-based, activity-based, or supplier-specific methods
4. Report — Disclose methods, assumptions, and boundaries