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Definition

Scope 3 relevance criteria

Scope 3 relevance criteria help a company identify which value-chain activities need close attention by considering size, influence, risk, stakeholder concern, outsourcing, sector guidance, and other company-specific factors.

What are Scope 3 relevance criteria?

The GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, Chapter 6, Table 6.1, gives seven checks: size, influence, risk, stakeholders, outsourcing, sector guidance, and other company or sector criteria. Use them to decide which mapped activities need better data and whether an exclusion would weaken the company's emissions record. They do not replace the 15 categories or the minimum activities that each category must cover.

Why do Scope 3 relevance criteria matter to you?

CDP 2026 Question 7.8 asks for gross Scope 3 emissions and explained exclusions. Customers may also ask why you focused on certain purchases, transport, or sold products. Without written reasoning, a low estimate can look like an unsupported omission.

How do Scope 3 relevance criteria work?

Map activities to the 15 categories, make initial estimates, then record which criteria each meets. Improve data for relevant activities. Section 6.2 requires every exclusion to be disclosed and justified, while section 6.3 explains how to make that decision. Keep the activity, estimate or data gap, criteria, decision, and review date.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Treating a small estimate as an automatic exclusion when risk, influence, or stakeholder concern makes it relevant.
  • Presenting your own numerical cutoff as a GHG Protocol rule.
  • Writing "no data" without explaining the activity, limitation, and exclusion decision.

Are Scope 3 relevance criteria the same as financial materiality?

No. These criteria guide Scope 3 inventory decisions. Another reporting standard may apply a different materiality test. Keep the decisions separate and name the rule you used.

Can a small Scope 3 activity still be relevant?

Yes. A customer may deem it critical, your company may influence reductions, or the activity may create regulatory, supply-chain, product, litigation, or reputation risk.

What should you send with a relevance assessment?

Send a category register listing each activity, estimate or data gap, criteria met, decision, exclusion reason, source, and review date. Link it to your calculation workbook.

Example

Hypothetical Mexico example: Suppose a pharmaceutical packaging supplier maps four activities: aluminium foil purchases, outsourced coating, business travel, and end-of-life treatment of sold blister packs. Its first estimate puts foil at 62% of Scope 3 emissions, and the procurement team flags exposure to aluminium price and carbon risks. The coating was previously done in-house, and the company still controls its specification. A customer asks specifically about blister-pack disposal, which the legal team also flags as a packaging-waste risk. Travel is 0.2% of the first estimate with no identified risk or stakeholder request, although the company can influence it through its travel policy.

The company prioritises better-data collection for any activity meeting the size criterion or at least two of the other criteria. This is the company's rule, not a GHG Protocol threshold. Foil meets size and risk; coating meets outsourcing and influence; end-of-life treatment meets stakeholders and risk; travel meets influence only. Three of four activities, or 75%, move to better-data collection. Travel remains mapped, and any exclusion still needs disclosure and justification under sections 6.2 and 6.3.

Where it comes up

GHG Protocol criteria for identifying relevant Scope 3 activitiesCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, Chapter 6, Table 6.1, page 61Official sourceCDP 2026 gross Scope 3 emissions and explained exclusionsCDP full corporate questionnaire, Question 7.8; SME questionnaire, Question 20.7

Related terms

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.

GHG inventory

A GHG inventory is a dated record that fixes an organisation's boundary, lists its emissions sources and calculations, separates Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 totals, and documents methods, exclusions and supporting files.

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 accounting principles

GHG accounting principles require an inventory to be relevant, complete, consistent, transparent, and accurate so its boundary, methods, exclusions, and results can support decisions and withstand review.

Sources

  • GHG Protocol

    Chapter 6 boundary requirements, Table 6.1 relevance criteria, and disclosure and justification of exclusions

    2026-08-20

  • CDP

    2026 Question 7.8 and SME Question 20.7 on gross Scope 3 emissions and explained exclusions

    2026-08-20

Last verified 2026-08-20

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Scope 3 relevance criteria Definition | Keslio