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Definition

PACT Methodology

PACT Methodology V3 sets calculation and handover rules for cradle-to-production-gate product carbon footprints so customers can use the result and its supporting data across different software systems.

What is PACT Methodology?

PACT Methodology V3 tells you how to calculate and report a product carbon footprint (PCF) in kg CO2e per declared unit. Its boundary ends at the production gate. Outbound transport and storage stay outside the PCF, but you report them separately until another company takes responsibility for them.

Why does PACT Methodology matter to you?

A customer asking for PACT V3 data needs more than one emissions number. Section 6.1.1 calls for product identifiers, dates, geography, boundary, declared unit, factor sources, exclusions, allocation, primary data share (PDS), and verification details. Missing fields can make the footprint unusable.

How does PACT Methodology work?

Use the Methodology for calculation and the Technical Specifications for its fields. PDS is the share of the absolute PCF calculated from primary activity and emissions data. PACT rates how well data matches the technology, place, and time from 1, best, to 5, worst. These ratings are required by 31 December 2027.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Adding outbound logistics to the cradle-to-production-gate PCF.
  • Sending a result without its period, boundary, unit, source versions, or PDS.
  • Leaving exclusions or shared-process allocation unexplained.
  • Calling a spreadsheet or PCF calculation “PACT conformant.”

Is PACT Methodology the same as the Pathfinder Framework?

PACT Methodology is the current name for the Pathfinder Framework. V3 was released on 30 April 2025 and is required for new calculations. An earlier V2 PCF remains valid for three years from its calculation date, unless production processes change by more than 10% or the product contains more than 5% biogenic carbon.

Does PACT conformance prove that my calculation is correct?

No. Technical conformance means software follows PACT's data format and exchange interface, not that the PCF is correct. Calculate the PCF under the Methodology and provide the fields needed to check it.

Example

Suppose a plastics moulder in Japan prepares a PACT V3 record for 1,000 housings. Its clearly hypothetical cradle-to-production-gate components are 500 kg CO2e for resin, 200 kg for moulding, 40 kg for inbound transport, and 20 kg for packaging. The PCF is (500 + 200 + 40 + 20) / 1,000 = 0.760 kg CO2e per declared unit of one housing.

The resin component has 60% PDS, moulding has 100%, and the two secondary-data components have 0%. Product PDS is ((500 x 60%) + (200 x 100%) + (40 x 0%) + (20 x 0%)) / 760 = 65.79%. The calculation file records AIST-IDEA 4.0 and ecoinvent 3.12 as the secondary-source versions.

The exchange record identifies the product, Japan, a reference period of 1 January to 30 June 2026, a validity end date of 30 June 2027, and a declared unit of one housing with an unpackaged product mass of 0.20 kg. It reports both PCF fields as 0.760 because there is no biogenic uptake, packaging emissions of 0.020 kg CO2e per housing, 0% exempted emissions, no allocation because the process has one output, voluntary DQRs of 2, 2, and 1, and states that the PCF has not been verified. A separate 30 kg CO2e outbound-delivery estimate equals 0.030 kg CO2e per housing and is not added to the PCF.

Where it comes up

PACT V3 production-gate boundary and separate outbound-logistics reportingPACT Methodology V3, sections 3.2.3 and 3.3.2.1 (checked 2026-08-20)Official sourcePACT V3 primary data share and three data quality ratingsPACT Methodology V3, sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 (checked 2026-08-20)Official sourcePACT V3 minimum product-footprint information for exchangePACT Methodology V3, section 6.1.1 (checked 2026-08-20)Official sourcePACT Technical Specifications V3 schema, reporting-rule, data-model, and host-system conformance requirementsPACT Technical Specifications V3, sections 3, 4.2-4.7, and 5.2 (checked 2026-08-20)Official source

Related terms

Product carbon footprint (PCF)

A product carbon footprint (PCF) is the greenhouse gas emissions assigned to one product across a stated life-cycle boundary and expressed per declared or functional unit.

Primary vs secondary GHG data

Primary GHG data records a specific site, product, activity, or supplier, while secondary GHG data estimates that activity with external averages, databases, financial factors, or other proxies.

GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard

The GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard sets requirements for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and removals attributable to one product across its defined life cycle, in CO2e per unit of analysis.

Declared unit (PCF)

A declared unit is the measured quantity of product used as the reference for a partial product carbon footprint when the product's full function is not assessed.

Scope 3 Emissions

Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from goods, services, transport, product use, investments, and other upstream and downstream activities outside your company's Scope 1 and Scope 2 boundary.

Sources

Last verified 2026-08-20

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PACT Methodology Definition | Keslio