What is PCAF?

Banks, asset managers and insurers work from PCAF when they report Scope 3 Category 15, and it is the framework named in the methodology note of a financed emissions disclosure.

What does the PCAF standard actually require?

Three things, for every exposure. Attribute a share of the counterparty's emissions to the institution, using the attribution factor defined for that asset class. Record how the figure was arrived at, using the data quality score. Disclose both, broken down by asset class, rather than presenting one portfolio number. The standard is prescriptive about method and open about data availability, which is why two institutions with similar books can report very different totals and both be following it correctly.

Which asset classes does PCAF cover?

The standard began with six: listed equity and corporate bonds, business loans and unlisted equity, project finance, commercial real estate, mortgages, and motor vehicle loans. Sovereign debt followed. The December 2025 edition takes the standard to ten asset classes and adds further methodology and reporting guidance. Each asset class carries its own attribution factor and its own data quality table, so a mortgage portfolio and a corporate loan book are scored on different ladders even though both report on a 1 to 5 scale.

How does attribution work?

The attribution factor sizes the institution's share of a counterparty's emissions by how much of that counterparty it finances. For listed equity and corporate bonds it is the outstanding value of the investment over the counterparty's enterprise value including cash. For business loans and unlisted equity it is the outstanding amount over total equity plus debt. For mortgages and commercial real estate it is the outstanding amount over the property value at origination. Multiply the attribution factor by the counterparty's emissions and you have the financed emissions for that exposure.

How does PCAF relate to the GHG Protocol?

PCAF is built on the GHG Protocol rather than beside it. Financed emissions sit in Scope 3 Category 15, and the GHG Protocol recognises the PCAF standard as sector guidance for the financial industry. An institution reporting a full corporate inventory therefore reports its own Scope 1 and Scope 2, its operational Scope 3, and then Category 15 calculated the PCAF way.

What usually limits a PCAF calculation?

Counterparty data. The method is settled. The inputs have to be found. Listed holdings tend to disclose, so those exposures score well. Private companies and unlisted holdings often disclose nothing, which pushes those exposures to the bottom of the data quality ladder and pulls the portfolio average down with them. The constraint is counterparty coverage rather than method.

Where does DitchCarbon fit?

DitchCarbon provides verified emissions data for over 2 million organisations, so procurement, sustainability and finance teams can measure and act on supply chain and portfolio emissions from one source. For a PCAF calculation that means a counterparty level figure with its source and change history attached, private companies included. Coverage gaps are shown rather than hidden. The full method is published: see how the Scope 3 calculation works.

That layer is what makes the next step possible. Instead of a blanket survey, you can approach the counterparties whose exposures score worst with a request that already contains what has been published, and watch the portfolio average move as they confirm or correct it. Prepopulated requests get higher response rates than a cold survey, because the counterparty is checking figures rather than starting from an empty form. See financed emissions and portfolio analysis for how that runs in practice.

Is the underlying calculation auditable?

What you hand over is audit-ready and verified to ISO 14064-3, limited assurance, by UL Solutions, renewed annually. Every figure carries its source and change history, so a third-party auditor can follow a number back to where it came from. DitchCarbon is the only specialist Scope 3 tool with third-party assurance of its calculation methodology: both reports are on the trust centre, and the verification benchmark lists every vendor we checked, verified or not.

Related

• How do PCAF data quality scores work?
• What are financed emissions?
• What is Scope 3 Category 15 (investments)?
• What are portfolio emissions?

Being asked for emissions data by a lender or investor? Claim your company profile and answer once, so the next request starts from what you have already published. Or see the data quality uplift on your own portfolio.

Last reviewed July 2026.