The email arrives from your largest customer. Subject line: Supplier Sustainability Data Request: response required by month-end. Attached is a spreadsheet asking for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in tonnes CO₂e, electricity by state, and your measurement method. Two questions follow: what does this mean, and what happens if you ignore it?
Ignore it and, eventually, you risk the account. Not this quarter, maybe, but the direction is set. These requests are landing in inboxes across Australia right now, and they don't go away. They repeat annually and get more detailed each time. The good news is that a strong first response is far more achievable than it looks.
Why they're asking now
Your customer is almost certainly reporting under the ASRS, and your emissions are part of their Scope 3, specifically Category 1, purchased goods and services, which for most organisations is the single largest slice of the footprint. Until now they've estimated your contribution from how much they spend with you. That spend-based estimate is coarse, and the standards push them toward real supplier data. So the request comes to you.
What they're actually asking for
The template can look intimidating, but it usually reduces to a short list. Here's what most requests contain and what each item really means.
| What they ask for | What it means |
|---|---|
| Total Scope 1 emissions (t CO₂e) | Fuel you burn, gas, refrigerant leaks |
| Total Scope 2 emissions (t CO₂e) | Electricity you purchase |
| Electricity consumption by state | kWh from your bills, so they can apply grid factors |
| Measurement methodology | How you calculated it, and what's measured vs estimated |
| Any reduction targets | Optional now, increasingly expected later |
You don't need a full footprint to answer well
Most requests stop at Scope 1 and 2, and both are calculable from records you already keep. Fuel and gas invoices give you Scope 1. Electricity bills give you Scope 2. Apply the published NGA Factors from DCCEEW and you have defensible numbers without a consultant or a platform migration.
What matters more than completeness is honesty about method. A response that says "here's our figure, here's how we got it, and here's what's still estimated" is stronger than a precise-looking number with nothing behind it. The first builds trust; the second falls apart the moment they ask a follow-up.
“A guessed number with no method is worse than an honest one. The customer isn't grading your footprint. They're checking whether they can rely on your answer.”
What a good response signalsHow to respond in a week
A first supplier response
- Gather twelve months of electricity, gas and fuel invoices
- Total the kWh and litres, split by state where you can
- Apply the current NGA Factors to get Scope 1 and 2 in tonnes CO₂e
- Write two or three sentences on method, and flag what's estimated
- Keep the source documents together, in case they ask you to substantiate a figure
Answer the request with something that stands up
Our AI Sustainability Analyst builds a Scope 1 and 2 response from your own bills, with the method and evidence behind every figure, ready to send.
Book a Sustainability Check-up