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What is Scope 3?

Scope 3 emissions are indirect GHG emissions that occur in a company’s value chain — both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers, product use, end-of-life). Under ESRS E1-6, CSRD reporters must disclose Scope 3 emissions across all relevant GHG Protocol categories.

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The 15 Scope 3 categories

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Calculation methods in Matproof

Matproof supports the three GHG Protocol calculation methods:

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Spend-based method

Uses supplier spend × sector-specific emission factors.
  • Best for: First-year reporting, when supplier data is unavailable
  • Data needed: Spend by category, country
  • Emission factors: Exiobase + DEFRA databases (updated annually)

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Activity-based method

Uses physical activity data × emission factors.
  • Best for: High-spend categories where accuracy matters
  • Data needed: Quantities (kg, km, kWh, etc.) from suppliers
  • More accurate than spend-based

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Supplier-specific method

Uses actual emissions data reported by suppliers.
  • Best for: Key suppliers with robust carbon accounting
  • Data needed: Supplier’s verified Scope 1 + 2 emissions, allocated to your share
  • Most accurate — preferred by auditors

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Setting up Scope 3 in Matproof

  1. Go to CSRD → Scope 3
  2. Select which categories are material (based on your DMA results)
  3. Choose calculation method per category
  4. Map your supplier data — either from questionnaire responses or manual input
  5. Review calculations — Matproof shows the math and data sources
  6. Export — results mapped to ESRS E1-6 disclosure requirements

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Collecting data from suppliers

The supplier questionnaire includes Scope 3 data request fields:
  • For spend-based: Matproof uses your procurement data automatically
  • For activity-based: Questionnaire asks for quantities (e.g., “How many tonnes of goods did you deliver to us?”)
  • For supplier-specific: Questionnaire asks for their verified Scope 1+2 emissions and revenue attribution

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Emission factors

Matproof uses the following emission factor databases:
  • Exiobase — multi-regional input-output tables (spend-based)
  • DEFRA — UK government emission factors (activity-based)
  • ecoinvent — lifecycle assessment database (product-level)
  • IPCC AR6 — global warming potentials
Databases are updated annually. You can see which version was used in your calculation audit trail.
ESRS E1-6 requires reporting Scope 3 emissions in CO2 equivalent (CO2e), covering all 6 GHGs from the Kyoto Protocol: CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6.