Questions
The ones we get asked most, answered plainly.
What is Scope 3, in plain terms?
Scope 1 is what you burn yourself. Scope 2 is the electricity you buy. Scope 3 is everything else connected to your business: the emissions of your suppliers, the transport of your goods, the use of your product after it leaves you. It is usually more than 90% of the total, and it is the part that requires data you do not currently hold.
Do we actually have to do this?
It depends who buys from you. If you export to the EU in a covered sector, CBAM has applied since January 2026 and carbon reporting is now a condition of trade rather than a courtesy. If you supply a large corporate, they may be under their own reporting obligation and will pass the request down to you — the EU narrowed that obligation considerably in March 2026, but the largest buyers are still captured, and they are the ones with purchasing power over you.
If neither applies yet, you have time. The direction of travel is one way.
How long does implementation take?
Typically six to ten weeks from start to a first complete reporting cycle: scoping and boundary setting, mapping your data sources, a pilot on part of your supply chain, then full onboarding. The variable is how quickly your suppliers respond, which is why we run the first round of outreach with you rather than handing you a login.
What if our suppliers won't give us data?
Some won't, at first. Baseline scores every response so you can see exactly which figures are measured and which are estimated, rather than blending them into one number. Then it makes answering as easy as possible: plain questions about things suppliers actually have, a portal that works on a phone, and one profile they can reuse with every customer who asks. Response rates climb once a supplier understands the request is becoming a condition of the account.
Does CBAM data need to be verified?
Yes, if you want your actual emissions used instead of a default value. Actual data must be verified by an accredited third party, including an on-site audit in the first year and assessment against a 5% variance threshold. That is a high bar, and it is the reason records have to be built to be checked rather than assembled at the deadline. If verification is late or fails, the default applies anyway.
Do our suppliers have to pay?
No. Supplier accounts are free and always will be. Charging them would defeat the purpose.
Where do your emission factors come from?
We maintain a database built for African operating conditions — national grid intensities, local fuel specifications, regional transport and waste factors — and fall back to recognised international sources where no local factor exists. Every factor is versioned, so a recalculation in two years reproduces the same result.
Which reporting frameworks do you cover?
GHG Protocol, TCFD, CDP, CSRD and SBTi from one dataset, plus CBAM reporting at installation and CN-code level for exporters into the EU.
Will our numbers survive an audit?
That is the design goal. Every figure traces to the document, meter reading or invoice it came from, with the factor applied, the version of that factor, and who supplied it. Verifiers get read-only access to the evidence. We cannot promise an audit outcome, but we can make sure nothing in your numbers is unexplainable.
Do we still need consultants?
Less of them, and for different work. Consultants are valuable for strategy, target-setting and interpreting a result. They are an expensive way to collect data from four hundred suppliers every year, which is the part Baseline takes on.
Who owns the data?
You do. You can export it in full at any time, and if you leave you take it with you.
What does it cost?
It depends on the number of entities, suppliers and frameworks involved. We quote after a short scoping conversation rather than publishing a number that would be wrong for most people. Ask us.