Why Private Companies Are Getting Asked for Their Carbon Footprint (And What to Do About It)

If you've received an RFP recently with a section on emissions, or heard from your PE backers that carbon data is now a reporting requirement, you're in good company. Carbon footprint requests have become a standard part of doing business for private companies, and the volume of requests is increasing.

This post explains why it's happening, what you're actually being asked to provide, and how to get it done efficiently.

Where the Requests Are Coming From

Two forces are driving most of the carbon footprint requests private companies are receiving.

Client RFPs. Large enterprise buyers, particularly in financial services, CPG, and tech, have made sustainability disclosures a standard part of their procurement process. If you want to win or retain a contract, the ESG section of an RFP is no longer optional. Carbon footprint data is increasingly one of the specific data points they're asking for. As covered in a previous post on RFP responses, if all things are equal and your competitor has a transparent emissions reduction target, you will lose.

Pressure from European LPs. If your company has private equity backing with European limited partners, you've likely already felt this. European investors are subject to SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), the EU's mandatory ESG disclosure framework for financial market participants, which requires them to report on the ESG performance of their portfolio companies. Even if those companies are based in the United States.

That obligation flows downstream, directly to you. Private equity firms have not stopped using ESG as a lens for evaluating and managing portfolio companies, and carbon data is a core part of that picture.

In both cases, the ask is the same: show us your emissions data.

What They're Actually Asking For

When a client or investor asks for your carbon footprint, they're typically asking for a GHG (greenhouse gas) inventory broken into three scopes:

Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources your company owns or controls. Company vehicles, on-site combustion, refrigerants.

Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam. Usually your office or facility energy use.

Scope 3: All other indirect emissions across your value chain. Business travel, employee commuting, supply chain emissions, and downstream use of your products or services. This is the most complex, and often the largest, category for most private companies.

Most RFPs and LP requests will ask for Scope 1 and 2 at minimum. Many are now asking for Scope 3 as well. If you're not sure what's being asked, look for references to the GHG Protocol. It's the global standard most reporting frameworks are built on, and the basis for how Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions are defined and calculated.

Because it's common for Scope 3 emissions to make up the majority of a company's total footprint, clients and investors aren't just asking about your direct emissions. They want to understand your full picture.

What the Process Actually Looks Like

A carbon footprint project for a private company typically follows this sequence:

Data collection. This is where most of the work happens. You'll need utility bills, fuel records, travel data, and supply chain information. The completeness and quality of your data determines the quality of your footprint. For most private companies, this takes two to four weeks depending on how organized your records are.

Calculation and methodology. Emissions are calculated using emission factors, published conversion rates that translate activity data (like kilowatt hours of electricity) into CO2 equivalent figures. The methodology needs to be defensible and aligned with the GHG Protocol so your numbers hold up to scrutiny.

Baseline and review. Once the footprint is calculated, you review the results, identify your largest emission sources, and establish a baseline year. This is what you'll measure future progress against.

Report and reduction roadmap. The final output is a report summarizing your footprint by scope and category, along with a roadmap for where and how to reduce emissions over time. This is also what you hand to the client or LP who asked for it.

For most private companies doing this for the first time, the full process takes six to ten weeks from kickoff to final report.

The Biggest Mistake Private Companies Make

The most common mistake I see is buying carbon accounting software and trying to do it internally.

It sounds like the efficient choice. The software is relatively affordable, onboarding looks straightforward, and it seems manageable alongside other responsibilities.

In practice, it rarely works that way. Carbon accounting software is built for teams that already understand GHG methodology. Without that foundation, you end up spending weeks trying to determine which emission factors to use, how to handle missing data, and whether your Scope 3 categories are complete — only to produce a footprint you're not fully confident in and can't clearly explain to the stakeholder who asked for it.

The result is significant internal time spent, and still needing outside help to validate or redo the work.

For most private companies receiving their first carbon footprint request, fully outsourcing the project is faster, more accurate, and cheaper in total than the software-plus-internal-effort approach. You get a defensible, audit-ready output and you understand what it means.

What to Look for When Choosing Outside Help

Not all sustainability consultants have deep GHG accounting experience. When evaluating options:

Ask for specific carbon footprint experience. Look for examples of previous footprints completed, including scopes covered and frameworks used. GHG Protocol alignment is the baseline expectation.

Look for experience with private companies. Carbon footprint projects for private companies are different from public ones. The data infrastructure is less developed, resources are more constrained, and reporting requirements are less standardized. Someone who works primarily with large public companies may not be well-suited to your situation.

Ask how they handle Scope 3. This is where a lot of consultants either over-engineer the process or skip categories that matter. The GHG Protocol defines 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions. Not all of them will be relevant to your business, and a good consultant will be upfront about which ones matter and why. Look for someone who can explain clearly which categories apply to your situation and is honest about data limitations. For more on reducing Scope 3 emissions once you have your baseline, this post is a good starting point.

Confirm what you'll receive. You should know upfront: a written report, the underlying data model, methodology documentation, and a reduction roadmap. These are what you'll need when your client or LP follows up.

Getting Started

If you've received a carbon footprint request, the first step is understanding exactly what's being asked. RFP language and LP questionnaires vary. Some ask for a full GHG inventory, others want a simpler disclosure or a commitment to measure.

Green Buoy Consulting works with private companies to complete Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprints, build reduction roadmaps, and respond to ESG requests from clients and investors.

If you have a request in hand and want to talk through what it involves, get in touch.

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