Category 15 (Investments) Approach — If Relevant

A beginner-safe decision tree and minimum viable approach for financed emissions / investment-related Scope 3

Scope 3, Made PracticalCoreDecision Kit45 min

This is an operational starting point. Investment emissions methods can be complex and should be aligned with finance, audit, and any required standards.

What you'll accomplish

  • Determine whether Cat 15 is relevant to your operating model
  • Build a minimum viable inventory of investment exposures (if any)
  • Define a governance approach with finance/accounting
  • Document limitations and a plan to improve over time

Who this is for

Organizations

With investment activities, funds, or financing exposures

Finance/accounting teams

Who own investment reporting

Sustainability teams

Asked to address "financed emissions"

When to use this

Use this when:

  • •Stakeholders ask "did you include financed emissions?"
  • •Your org holds significant investments outside normal operating assets
  • •You are a REIT/fund/asset manager or have meaningful investment holdings

Note: If your organization is primarily an owner/operator and does not hold investment portfolios beyond operations, Cat 15 may be immaterial.

Decision tree (is Cat 15 relevant?)

Answer these:

1

Do we hold equity or debt investments as part of our business model?

Y / N
2

Are we an asset manager, fund, or financial entity?

Y / N
3

Do we have material minority stakes in other entities?

Y / N
4

Do stakeholders explicitly require financed emissions disclosure?

Y / N

If most answers are "No," document Cat 15 as not material/limited scope for now.

Minimum viable approach (if Cat 15 is relevant)

1

Build an investment inventory

  • •investment name
  • •type (equity/debt/fund)
  • •value / exposure
  • •% ownership (if applicable)
  • •data source (finance system, manager report)
2

Decide scope boundaries

  • •which investments are included
  • •which are excluded and why
  • •reporting year coverage
3

Decide a quality ladder

  • •Proxy estimates (documented) → improved manager data → verified methods (later)

Templates included

Template 1 — Investment Inventory (copy/paste table)

| Investment | Type (equity/debt/fund) | Reporting year | Exposure/value | Ownership % (if known) | Data source | Evidence link | Notes/limitations |
|---|---|---|---:|---:|---|---|---|

Template 2 — Data Request to Investment Manager (copy/paste)

Subject: Request: investment emissions / Sustainability data summary — [Reporting year]

Hi [Name],
For our internal reporting, can you provide any available Sustainability/emissions reporting for:
- fund/company name:
- reporting year coverage:
- any emissions metrics you already report
- methodology notes and limitations
- verification status (if any)

If you don't provide emissions metrics, a summary of existing Sustainability reporting and scope is helpful.
Thanks,
[Name]

Template 3 — Cat 15 Methods Note (copy/paste)

Category 15 (Investments) Methods Note (Internal)

Relevance:
- Why Cat 15 is included/excluded:

Scope:
- Investment types included:
- Data sources:

Approach:
- Current method level (proxy/partial/advanced):
- Key assumptions:
- Known limitations:

Governance:
- Finance owner:
- Sustainability owner:
- Approval process:

Plan to improve:
- Data requests to managers:
- Timeline:

Common pitfalls

  • ✗Trying to implement complex financed emissions methods without finance ownership
  • ✗Including investments inconsistently year to year with no explanation
  • ✗Publishing numbers without clear limitations or approval chain
  • ✗Spending time here when Cat 1/2/13 are larger and more controllable (for many real estate operators)

How to prove impact

Clear decision on relevance

Include or document as limited

A clean inventory

With evidence links

Governance alignment

Finance + Sustainability sign-off

Improvement plan defined

For next cycle

Evidence and Confidence

Confidence:Medium(high variability by business model and standards)

Assumptions: Finance can provide investment exposure data.

Where this can fail: If ownership and boundary definitions are unclear.

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release