LENDLEASE Group on Tuesday (Sep 19) launched a new protocol for Scope 3 emissions comprising 90 per cent of its global carbon footprint.

These emissions come from upstream activities such as manufacturing building materials, and downstream activities such as the use of electricity and natural gas by its building tenants, the Australian developer said.

Scope 3 covers emissions from sources not within the Scope 1 and 2 boundaries, and usually refers to indirect emissions from entities up and down a company’s value chain.

These often make up the majority of the company’s carbon footprint, Lendlease said, adding that such emissions are “especially challenging” to address in the real estate sector due to limited guidance on Scope 3 reporting boundaries.

With the launch of the new protocol, Lendlease has called for industry peers – including developers, builders and construction material manufacturers – to address their Scope 3 emissions.

It is also pushing for an industry-wide data-sharing platform for the secure exchange of digitised, verified Scope 3 emissions data across value chains.

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Lendlease’s new protocol, which was launched during discussions at Climate Week NYC, will reflect how it reports its Scope 3 emissions and outline what it considers material and in and out of scope.

The group reviewed the 15 categories of upstream and downstream sources of emissions as indicated in the GHG Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard.

This was before arriving at eight applicable categories for its business: purchased goods and services; capital goods; fuel and energy-related activities; upstream transportation and distribution; waste generated in operations; business travel; use of sold products; and downstream leased assets.

The new protocol builds on the group’s ambitions to achieve “Absolute Zero” by 2040, which excludes the use of carbon offsets. It plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2025 for Scope 1 and 2, which covers emissions from directly and indirectly owned sources.