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Definitie

Scope 3 Category 8: Upstream leased assets

Scope 3 Category 8 covers operating emissions from leased buildings, vehicles, and equipment that your company uses but excludes from its Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory.

What is Scope 3 Category 8: Upstream leased assets?

Category 8 covers operating emissions from buildings, vehicles, or equipment your company leases when their fuel, purchased energy, refrigerant, or process emissions are outside Scope 1 and Scope 2. Your company reports them in Category 8 as the lessee; the asset owner checks whether the same emissions belong in Category 13.

Why does Scope 3 Category 8 matter to you?

GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard Chapter 11 requires each category total plus the method and assumptions used. If your lease register and boundary note disagree, you can omit an asset or count its energy twice.

How is Scope 3 Category 8 calculated?

Check the lease type and the inventory approach defining ownership or control. Use the same boundary approach documented in your Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory policy: equity share means ownership percentage, financial control means financial authority, and operational control means operating authority. Under equity share or financial control, an operating lease can enter Category 8. Under operational control, it normally enters Scope 1 and Scope 2.

Use the asset-specific method for meter readings, fuel logs, refrigerant records, or process data. Formula 8.1 applies matching factors and adds the assets. Without direct records, use the owner's Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions allocated to the leased asset, or use an average per square metre or asset type. Count only the period leased. For a franchise, use franchise-specific fuel and energy records and Category 14.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Classifying the lease without checking your ownership or control boundary.
  • Adding a lessor allocation to direct data for the same period.
  • Counting twelve months for a part-year lease.
  • Using averages when asset or franchise energy records exist.

Does every operating lease belong in Category 8?

No. Under operational control, its emissions normally enter Scope 1 and Scope 2. Use Category 8 only when they remain outside both.

What records support a Category 8 total?

Keep lease dates and classification, your boundary policy, asset list, meter or fuel records, factor file and year, lessor allocation, and a calculation tied to each asset.

Example

Suppose an electronics contract manufacturer in Thailand leases a petrol-powered backup generator under an operating lease from 1 January through 30 June. It uses the financial-control approach and lacks ownership or financial control of the generator, so the fuel emissions sit in Category 8. The generator's fuel log records 800 litres of petrol, average biofuel blend, during the six-month lease.

The published factor is 2.075 kg CO2e per litre from UK DESNZ and DEFRA's 2026 conversion factors. Calculation: 800 litres x 2.075 kg CO2e/litre = 1,660 kg CO2e, or 1.66 metric tonnes CO2e. The 800 litres already cover the leased period, so no annualisation is added. Because this is a UK-issued factor, the result is a transparent method example, not a Thailand-specific reporting figure; replace it with an appropriate Thai factor before external reporting.

Where it comes up

GHG Protocol Category 8 boundary, lessee treatment, and part-year ruleCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, Chapter 5 Category 8, Table 5.4 and Appendix A Table A.1Official sourceGHG Protocol Category 8 method choice and asset-specific calculationTechnical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Category 8, Figure 8.1 and Formula 8.1Official source

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.

Scope 1 Emissions

Scope 1 emissions are greenhouse gases released directly from sources your company owns or controls, including fuel-burning equipment and vehicles, industrial processes, and refrigerant or other gas leaks.

Scope 2 Emissions

Scope 2 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from generating the electricity, steam, heat, and cooling your company buys and uses.

Scope 3 Category 13: Downstream leased assets

Scope 3 Category 13 counts operating emissions from assets your company owns and rents to customers when those emissions sit outside your Scope 1 and Scope 2 totals.

Scope 3 Category 14: Franchises

Scope 3 Category 14 records the operating emissions of licensed franchise businesses that fall outside the franchisor's Scope 1 and Scope 2 boundary.

Sources

  • GHG Protocol

    Category 8 definition, minimum boundary, lessee and lessor treatment, part-year rule, and Appendix A lease classification

    2026-08-19

  • GHG Protocol

    Category 8 asset-specific, lessor-specific, and average-data methods, Figure 8.1, and Formula 8.1

    2026-08-19

  • UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

    The 2026 petrol factor used as a disclosed proxy in the worked example

    2026-08-19

Sources checked 2026-08-19

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Scope 3 Category 8: Upstream leased assets Definition | Keslio