What is Scope 3 Category 6: Business travel?
Category 6 covers the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of travel providers carrying your employees for work during the reporting year. Flights, rail, buses, taxis, rental cars, and reimbursed employee-owned cars qualify. Company-controlled vehicles belong in Scope 1 or Scope 2, while travel between home and work belongs in Category 7.
Why does Scope 3 Category 6 matter to you?
CDP 2026 Questions 7.8 and 20.7 ask for gross Scope 3 emissions by category and explanations for exclusions. Travel records often sit across booking systems, expense claims, and finance, so missing one source can understate the total.
How is Scope 3 Category 6 calculated?
Use the fuel-based method when a provider gives you reliable fuel and electricity data, including any air-conditioning refrigerant lost. Otherwise, multiply distance by a matching factor. Passenger-km is trip distance times the number of your employees travelling; vehicle-km is the distance of a car used only by your company. Tonne-km measures freight, not people. If only spend is available, multiply each travel cost by a factor for that service. Calculate hotel nights separately by country and year.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Counting commuting or company-controlled vehicles in Category 6.
- Using ticket count without distance, cabin class, or transport mode.
- Adding spend and distance estimates for the same trip.
Are hotel stays included in Category 6?
They are optional under the GHG Protocol. If you include them, multiply room nights by a country and year-specific kg CO2e per room-night factor and state that choice consistently.
What should you send when a customer asks for Category 6?
Send the reporting period, traveller list, trip legs, mode, passenger-km or vehicle-km, hotel country and room nights, factor source and year, calculation file, exclusions, and any spend-based proxy.