Transport may be counted across categories 4 and 9 together

The standard has a threshold that decides whether an emissions-intensive activity is significant.

5%

C6.3 — an EIA is treated as significant where it accounts for 5% or more of Scope 3 emissions (categories 1–14) (printed p.25).

A clause decisive for transport is attached here.

irrespective of the Scope 3 category it is reported under, and where the same EIA appears across several categories the company may aggregate across categories. (printed p.25)

Why that matters for transport

Transport emissions split into category 4 (upstream transportation and distribution) and category 9 (downstream transportation and distribution).

Taken separately each may fall under 5%. Combined they may clear it, and the standard permits combining them.

Once it is significant

C6.4 For each significant EIA, both the absolute emissions and the share of total Scope 3 must be reported. A number that was buried inside a category comes out under its own name.

C6.5 Reporting is due in the reporting cycle following target validation, or the second cycle where impossibility is credibly demonstrated.

To be stated plainly

Transport is not always a significant EIA. The 5% threshold depends on that company's emissions profile. But permission to aggregate means it is more likely to clear it than it would be taken apart.

※ Citations are printed page numbers in SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 (June 2026).

This article expands one section of LCS international standards analysis 3, Transport Is an Activity the Standard Names. The full report works from SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 itself as its primary source with printed page numbers given, and does not write down what the standard does not say.