Survey Finds Scope 3 Disclosure Rises but Data Confidence Remains Fragile

A survey of 1,034 sustainability leaders across 15 industries finds that voluntary Scope 3 disclosure has risen to 73%, up from 49% in 2024, yet nearly half of respondents report limited confidence in the accuracy of their reported figures. The findings, published in Sphera's 2026 Scope 3 Report, highlight structural barriers including small sustainability teams, fragmented data and inconsistent supplier reporting that continue to undermine reporting quality.

The report reveals that more than a quarter of surveyed organisations have sustainability functions of ten people or fewer, and that governance structures remain underdeveloped, with few organisations reporting to a dedicated Chief Sustainability Officer. Data required for Scope 3 calculations is spread across procurement systems, enterprise resource planning platforms and supplier spreadsheets that vary widely in format and precision. Methodological choices, including whether to use spend-based or activity-based calculations, can significantly alter results, adding another layer of uncertainty to reported figures.

Regulatory pressure is accelerating disclosure timelines, with 80% of respondents citing new or emerging regulations as having accelerated their reporting activities. Procurement teams are scrutinising supplier emissions as part of resilience and due diligence efforts, while finance functions evaluate exposure to carbon border adjustment mechanisms. Despite wider AI adoption for sustainability tasks, more than half the organisations in the survey are still experimenting with AI, while data confidence has not kept pace, with poor underlying data limiting the effectiveness of automated analysis and increasing the risk of unreliable baselines.

The report recommends that organisations improve Scope 3 data quality by standardising product and supplier master data, incorporating verified lifecycle datasets and emission-factor libraries, and establishing clearer workflows for supplier data sharing. Human oversight of AI outputs is emphasised as essential, given that automated systems perform most reliably when supported by experienced sustainability professionals who can interpret results in context. For Indian companies building out supply chain reporting capabilities under emerging domestic disclosure frameworks, these recommendations offer a practical roadmap for achieving credible Scope 3 inventories.

Key figure — 73% of surveyed organisations now voluntarily disclose Scope 3 emissions