Financial Corporation - Climate Change - Scope 3 GHG Emissions
Scope 3 GHG emissions (i.e. emissions that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions) should be disclosed by companies whose significant climate impact lies in their value chain.
For example, a Financial company A discloses its Scope 3 GHG emissions in three major categories (in millions of tonnes CO2 equivalent for the past two years), including lending and investments activities, where A's most significant impact on climate lies. Scope 3 GHG emissions (32,4) are presented next to the data for GHG emissions Scope 1 (0,006) and Scope 2 (0,003) to illustrate what is the ratio between the Scopes. Moreover, A states their commitment to bring their lending and client investment portfolio in line with well-below-2-degree scenario by 2050. Space for improvement:
- In addition to A’s reporting, it would be suitable to publish the data next to a forward-looking target, including milestones leading to A’s carbon neutrality by 2050, as suggested in the table below.
2019 | 2020 | target 2021 | target 2030 | target 2050 | |
Scope 3 emissions total (mtCO2e) | 34,6 | 32,4 | 24,3 | 8,1 | 0 |
Business air travel | 0,01 | 0,001 | 0,001 | 0 | 0 |
Emissions of lending portfolio | 27,4 | 25,7 | 20,4 | 6,5 | 0 |
Client assets | 7,2 | 6,7 | 3,9 | 1,6 | 0 |
A disaggregates the data for the Netherlands and the rest of the world. They also provide a more detailed breakdown for emissions of the lending portfolio by the type of the activities (corporate loans & non-listed equity, commercial real estate, and mortgages) and by sector.
A calculates Scope 3 emissions according to the Platform Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) principles and provides links with a more detailed description of the methodology within their reports. PCAF’s methodology is aligned with the GHG Protocol standard.
This level of reporting is included in ABN AMRO’s Integrated report, p. 41-42, 61, available here: https://assets.ctfassets.net/1u811bvgvthc/ZPL95gLg9RUZs6WODxSZq/0d47f38ae5e3a41bb1123d6f0a2a4874/ABN_AMRO_____Integrated_Report_2020.pdf
and ABN AMBRO’s Non-financial data & Engagement 2020, p. 14, 18, available here: https://assets.ctfassets.net/1u811bvgvthc/1olpiWHspce4AM7JExHm0a/b9dc3ce18d9f8a1e3fd5c5494c185733/ABN-AMRO_Non-financial_data_and_Engagement_2020.pdf
