Scope 3 Emissions Estimator
for Not-for-Profit

Scope 3 emissions estimation for Not-for-Profit

Not-for-profit (NFP) entities are not exempt from emissions reporting obligations. Large NFPs that meet CSRD thresholds (250 or more employees, EUR 50 million or more in net turnover, EUR 25 million or more in total assets, meeting two of three criteria) fall within the directive's scope. In the UK, the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework applies to large unquoted companies and LLPs, and some large charities structured as companies must comply. Even where regulatory disclosure is not mandatory, funders and institutional donors increasingly require carbon footprint reporting as a condition of grant funding. The Charities SORP does not address emissions disclosure, but the Charity Commission's CC14 guidance on investment matters references climate risk, and NFP boards are under growing pressure from stakeholders to measure and report their environmental impact.

The typical NFP Scope 3 profile is concentrated in four categories. Category 1 (purchased goods and services) covers everything from IT equipment and office supplies to programme-specific procurement such as medical supplies for health charities, educational materials for education charities, or food for feeding programmes. For international development NFPs, the procurement of goods shipped to programme countries can be substantial. Category 6 (business travel) is often disproportionately large relative to revenue because field-based organisations send staff to remote locations, frequently by air. A medium-sized international development charity with 500 staff can generate 2,000 to 4,000 tonnes CO2e annually from business travel alone. Category 7 (employee commuting) and Category 5 (waste from operations) complete the material categories for most office-based NFPs. Grant-making organisations face an additional question: should the emissions from activities funded by their grants be reported? The GHG Protocol does not include a specific category for grant-funded activities, but Category 15 (investments) may apply if grants are treated analogously to equity investments in terms of emissions attribution.

Assurance and funder reviews of NFP emissions data reveal consistent gaps. Travel data is often fragmented across multiple booking channels, personal expense claims, and in-country arrangements that are not captured in central systems. Procurement data is recorded in financial systems by cost code rather than by product type, making it difficult to apply anything more granular than broad spend-based emission factors. NFPs that occupy shared office space or co-working facilities struggle to determine their share of building energy and waste emissions. For international NFPs, programme-country emissions (from vehicles, generators, and local procurement) may be recorded in local currency and local accounting systems that do not integrate with head office reporting. These data gaps do not excuse non-reporting, but they should be documented transparently, with a plan for improving data collection over subsequent reporting periods.

For NFPs using this estimator, start with your financial accounts. Map expenditure lines to GHG Protocol categories: programme costs and support costs in Category 1, travel costs in Category 6, staff-related costs for Category 7. Apply DEFRA spend-based emission factors by expenditure category as a baseline. For business travel, extract flight data from your travel management company or expense system and calculate using DEFRA air travel emission factors by cabin class and distance band (short-haul, long-haul). For employee commuting, if survey data is not available, use UK Department for Transport National Travel Survey averages (or the equivalent national source) adjusted for your office locations. Where your NFP makes grants, consider whether the funded activities generate emissions material enough to warrant inclusion. Document the screening decision either way.