Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions explained: a guide for Indian companies
What Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions mean under the GHG Protocol, how location-based and market-based Scope 2 differ, the 15 Scope 3 categories, and what Indian companies and MSME suppliers are being asked for.
Overview
Scope 1, 2 and 3 are the three buckets the GHG Protocol uses to sort a company's greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 1 is what the company burns or releases itself, Scope 2 is the electricity, steam, heat or cooling it buys, and Scope 3 is everything else in its value chain, from suppliers to customers.
Photo: "Bommasandra Industrial Area, Bommasandra, Karnataka 560099, India - panoramio" by Christian Lederer, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The split decides who counts what, what a company controls directly and what it can only influence. Buyers, investors and regulators in India now use these terms every day. This guide reflects the standards and Indian rules as of October 2026.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition, 2004); GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015); GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (2011); GHG Protocol: public consultations page; GHG Protocol: release opening Scope 2 and electricity-sector consequential consultations; GHG Protocol: key standard development updates FAQ (29 July 2026); GHG Protocol: Scope 3 Standard Revisions Phase 1 Progress Update (March 2026, draft); SEBI: Format of BRSR Core, Annexure I (July 2023); SEBI circular SEBI/HO/CFD/CFD-PoD-1/P/CIR/2025/42 (28 March 2025); Central Electricity Authority, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, User Guide Version 22.0 (August 2026)
This article was prepared with AI assistance and checked by the GreenEye team against the sources shown in each section.
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