The GHG Protocol as the shared foundation
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard is the reference most organisations use when preparing a corporate greenhouse gas inventory for regulation, disclosure, or voluntary reporting. It classifies emissions by whether they arise from sources the reporting company owns or controls, from energy it purchases, or from activities elsewhere in its value chain. That structure underpins CSRD-related reporting, CDP, many national filing rules, and other frameworks, which you can explore in our international climate policy hub.
Scope 1: direct emissions
Scope 1 covers greenhouse gases released from sources that your organisation owns or controls. Typical examples include stationary combustion (for example boilers, furnaces, or other on-site fuel use), mobile combustion in company-owned or operated vehicles and equipment, fugitive emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, and process emissions from industrial chemical or physical transformation where those occur in your boundary.
- Combustion of fuels in buildings, plant, or generators you operate
- Fleet and non-road mobile machinery fuelled by the reporting organisation
- Refrigerant and other fugitive releases from equipment you control
Scope 2: indirect energy emissions
Scope 2 covers indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the reporting organisation. The GHG Protocol requires reporting both a location-based and a market-based figure for Scope 2 where applicable. The location-based method reflects the average emissions intensity of the grids (or systems) where energy use occurs. The market-based method reflects emissions from the sources your organisation has deliberately chosen through contractual instruments or supplier-specific factors, where those claims meet the Protocol's quality criteria.
Which method matters for a given filing depends on the programme or regulator; many inventories present both to give users a consistent view of grid exposure and of contractual procurement choices.
Scope 3: value chain emissions
The fifteen categories
Scope 3 captures all other indirect emissions that occur in the reporting company's value chain, upstream and downstream of its own operations. The GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard defines fifteen categories, including purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities not in Scope 1 or 2, upstream and downstream transport and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, leased assets, processing and use of sold products, franchises, and investments, among others.
Universal examples across sectors include business and freight travel, embodied emissions in purchased materials and services, treatment of operational waste, and emissions linked to how customers use products you sell. Organisations prioritise categories by relevance and data quality, often starting with the largest or most policy-sensitive flows.
Why Scope 3 is often the largest share
For many companies, Scope 3 exceeds Scope 1 and 2 combined because value chain activities sit outside the reporting boundary but still relate to the organisation's products, services, and operations. That pattern appears in manufacturing (purchased inputs, logistics, product use), retail and consumer goods (supply chains and use phase), and service-heavy sectors where travel, professional services, and procurement dominate.
The exact split depends on sector, geographic footprint, energy mix, and how the inventory boundary is drawn; the important point for climate policy and target setting is that reducing Scope 1 and 2 alone is often insufficient where most emissions lie upstream or downstream.
Boundary decisions and leased assets
Categories 8 and 13 in the GHG Protocol
Within the fifteen Scope 3 categories, leased assets are treated separately from generic purchased services so that reporting stays aligned with who owns the asset and who reports Scope 1 and 2 for it. Category 8 (upstream leased assets) covers emissions from the operation of assets leased by the reporting organisation from another entity and not already included in the lessee's Scope 1 and 2. Category 13 (downstream leased assets) covers emissions from the operation of assets owned by the reporting organisation and leased to others, where those emissions are not included in the lessor's Scope 1 and 2.
These categories apply to any organisation with operating or finance leases (or analogous arrangements) in line with the inventory boundary: offices, vehicles, equipment, or real estate, depending on what the reporting company owns versus what it leases in or out. Consistency with the Corporate Standard boundary avoids double counting or omitting material emissions when multiple parties report.
Getting leased-asset treatment right supports alignment with disclosure expectations that reference GHG Protocol concepts, including in the EU, US, and UK policy hubs on this site.
The same three-scope structure applies to any organisation preparing a comparable inventory; manufacturing, utilities, professional services, and sectors such as venues and live events all rely on these GHG Protocol definitions and boundary rules.
How 50X Impact helps
50X Labs focuses on sustainability technology for venues, sports, events, and municipalities. 50X Impact helps teams map operational and value chain data to the GHG Protocol scopes, document organisational boundaries and Scope 3 categories (including leased assets where they apply), and produce consistent outputs for multiple reporting programmes without rebuilding spreadsheets for each filing.
You maintain traceability from source data to reported numbers, and the same structured inventory feeds your “Digital Twin” view so operations, sustainability, and finance can work from one evidence-backed model as disclosure rules evolve.