As organisations face growing pressure to disclose their emissions, including scope 3 emissions, spend management platforms need to evolve. 

Businesses are facing both expectations and requirements to disclose their carbon emissions; from both regulators and customers alike. 

How can they evolve and keep up with the times? Embedded emissions intelligence.

What are scope 3 emissions?

Scope 3 emissions, according to the GHG Protocol, are indirect emissions within the value chain. They are distinct from scope 1 and 2 emissions which include direct emissions from owned sources and purchased energy, respectively. Scope 3 emissions can include (but are not limited to): 

• Purchased goods and services
• Business travel 
• Use of sold products
• Processing of sold products
• Logistics

Just because scope 3 emissions are further down the chain doesn’t mean that they aren’t impactful. In fact, scope 3 emissions make up between 70-90% of an organisation’s total carbon footprint. 

Scope 3 emissions are a reputational, financial, and compliance risk

New rules, like the EU's CSRD and IFRS S2, mean firms now have to report their scope 3 emissions accurately. Scope 3 emissions play a significant role in an organisation’s climate risk, reputation, and how well it meets net-zero goals. Spend management platforms need to update their tools to meet these new expectations.

When you use accurate spend data to calculate carbon emissions, the insights become richer. You can answer questions like:

• What carbon impact does our spending in the supply chain have?
• How do our purchasing decisions affect our overall emissions?
• Are we hitting our environmental targets?
• Are we compliant with all applicable regulations?

By integrating carbon data into spending reports, these platforms help businesses see the direct link between their financial choices and their environmental impact.

However, simply reporting emissions isn’t enough, as organisations are now expected to actively reduce them. Spend management platforms can play a key role by:

• Displaying how different purchasing decisions affect emissions
• Keeping track of emissions and highlighting where improvements can be made
• Actively reducing carbon emissions with carbon offsets, not just collecting data

It’s critical that spend management platforms that work with their clients ensure their platform enables tracking and reducing their scope 3 emissions; especially as environmental regulations will soon be mandatory across the board for all business- including CSRD in the EU. 

Clear emissions reporting not only safeguards a company’s reputation but also builds customer trust. As investors increasingly focus on climate-related risks, organisations that reduce their scope 3 emissions are perceived as lower risk. This enhanced transparency attracts investments and ultimately bolsters profitability.

What can be done about tracking scope 3 emissions?

This is where Lune comes in- with real-time emissions tracking on a transactional basis, including:

• Carbon emissions accounting and tracking (including scope 3 emissions)
• Out-of-the-box, audit-ready carbon reporting and analytics to meet CSRD, IFRS S2, and other ESG standards
• Integrated carbon offsets to enable customers to reduce their emissions

All through a single API, where you can ‘plug and play’, going live in weeks. 

By embedding Lune, platforms gain climate capabilities that are powerful, scalable, and compliant, staying ahead of today’s best practices and tomorrow’s regulations while attracting forward-thinking customers. 

Scope 3 emissions are core to how organisations think about ESG, risk, and compliance. Spend management platforms that embrace this shift will unlock valuable new features, strengthen client relationships, and stay ahead of the regulatory curve.

With Lune, you don’t just track scope 3 emissions. You help reduce them. Natively in your platform. Find out more about how emissions intelligence could be your spend management platform’s next USP.