Downstream Emissions

Downstream emissions are the greenhouse gas emissions that occur after a company's product or service leaves its direct control. Under the GHG Protocol, they sit within Scope 3—specifically Categories 9 to 15—and cover the distribution, use, and end-of-life treatment of what a company sells. This distinguishes them from upstream emissions, which capture what happens before a product reaches the company: raw materials, supplier activity, and inbound logistics.

In practice, downstream emissions typically include customers using a sold product (for example, fuel burned in a vehicle your company manufactured it), transport and distribution after the point of sale, and disposal or recycling of a product at the end of its life.

For companies selling physical goods, fuels, or energy-intensive products, downstream emissions often represent the largest share of their total footprint, significantly outweighing Scope 1 and 2 combined. For example, a car manufacturer's biggest emissions category is not its factories; it is the cars being driven.

Understanding where your downstream emissions are concentrated is the first step toward managing them. For a broader view of how Scope 3 fits into corporate carbon accounting, see Zevero's guide to Scope 3 emissions.