Accelerate your scope 3 emissions reporting with updated, locally relevant data.
In this session, our Technical Director Jeff Vickers and our Head of Carbon Katharina Bauch introduce the 2025 update to our spend-based Emission Factors for New Zealand, now available in version 3.0.
Our updated dataset helps you estimate scope 3 emissions using financial data already in your accounting systems. These factors provide emissions per dollar spent, making them ideal for screening, developing a baseline, or tracking your emissions year-on-year.
Watch the webinar replay, or scroll down for a summary
Here’s what we learned:
Katharina’s main takeaways
Spend-based emission factors are a practical starting point. They let you estimate scope 3 emissions using existing financial data, helping identify hotspots and focus future data collection efforts.
They’re especially useful for hard-to-measure categories. Businesses with many low-emissions suppliers or remote offices can use them to fill gaps and maintain comprehensive coverage.
They’re a stepping stone, not the final destination. As data quality improves, organisations should shift toward activity-based or supplier-specific methods and communicate methodology changes transparently.
Use them wisely. They work best for low-materiality areas or early-stage assessments. Don’t overinterpret the results.
Jeff’s update: What’s new in the 2025 release
More detail, better accuracy. Commodity emissions are now mapped from multiple industries (many-to-one), better representing certain commodity types.
Audited and peer reviewed. The commercial dataset (covering the 2023 year) is now independently audited by McHugh & Shaw, while the underlying methodology has now been peer reviewed by Market Economics.
Aligned and local. Built using NZ-specific data from Stats NZ, MfE, and RBNZ, with a single-country model for better resolution. Imported emissions are based on a global database (Eora).
Two tiers. The free version includes 2018 and 2021 data; the commercial version goes to 2023 and supports scope/GHG splits, GWP method switching, and more.
“If you don’t get the price right, you don’t get the emissions right.” – Jeff Vickers
Download the factors:
Get the Emission Factors here
Any questions? Get in touch at data@thinkstep-anz.com