The ESG landscape has undergone a fundamental transformation. What began as aspirational commitments has evolved into a rigorous discipline where organisations are judged not by their pledges, but by what they can prove. In 2024, trust has become the defining currency of ESG leadership—and the data confirms it.
At the heart of this transformation lies a critical challenge: Scope 3 emissions. Representing 70-95% of most companies’ carbon footprints, yet disclosed by only 15% of large public companies with credible methodology, Scope 3 has become the ultimate test of ESG credibility.

The Evidence: Trust Drives Capital and Value

The numbers tell a compelling story. Among S&P 500 companies, ESG assurance has surged from just 16% in 2010 to 46% by 2020, with 90% now publishing ESG reports in 2024. This isn’t a symbolic shift—it’s a structural one driven by measurable business imperatives.
In 2024, 71% of dealmakers reported an increased importance of ESG in transactions over the past 12-18 months. More striking still: 55% of investors are now willing to pay a premium of 1-10% for assets demonstrating high ESG maturity. When capital allocation depends on credibility, verification becomes a competitive advantage.

Four Forces Reshaping ESG Expectations

1. Regulations Demand Proof, Not Policy
The era of voluntary disclosure is closing. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) now requires detailed ESG reporting from large companies, including non-EU businesses with significant European operations. In India, BRSR Core mandates structured, audit-ready sustainability data. Starting in 2025, companies disclosing under ISSB standards must obtain at least limited assurance on key disclosures, including Scope 1-3 emissions.
Compliance is no longer about checklists. It’s about demonstrable evidence that withstands external scrutiny.
2. Investors Integrate ESG into Due Diligence
ESG due diligence has rapidly moved up the M&A agenda, with investors increasingly focused on protecting value. Private equity and institutional investors now require independent ESG verification as standard practice. Manufacturing, real estate, and energy sectors face particular pressure, with capex decisions, investor risk scoring, and embodied-carbon documentation increasingly tied to verified performance.
When returns depend on verified ESG positioning, trust becomes an economic asset.
3. Supply Chains Require Verifiable Data—Especially Scope 3
The challenge of Scope 3 emissions has become the defining test of ESG credibility. While 73% of the world’s largest companies now report Scope 3 emissions, only 46% provide comprehensive disclosure of methodology, boundaries, and data quality. This gap is critical: Scope 3 typically represents 70-95% of a company’s total carbon footprint.
The regulatory pressure is intensifying. IFRS S2 now mandates disclosure of Scope 1, 2, and full Scope 3 emissions across all 15 subcategories. The EU’s CSRD requires value chain emissions reporting from over 50,000 companies. Yet a 2024 Deloitte survey found that while 75% of large public companies disclose Scope 1 emissions, only 15% disclose Scope 3.
The investor community is paying attention. In a 2024 PwC survey, 76% of investors stated they consider a company’s climate strategy in investment decisions, with particular focus on Scope 3 management as evidence of comprehensive climate action.
The message is clear: participation in global supply chains now requires not just internal emissions data, but documented, verifiable proof of value chain sustainability performance.
4. Academia and Public Institutions Embrace Measurable Accountability
Universities and public institutions are adopting transparent environmental reporting frameworks. Certifications and rankings now assess verifiable climate action rather than stated intentions. Even non-corporate sectors are entering the era of evidence-based impact.

Why Trust Requires Infrastructure, Not Just Intent

Many organisations treat sustainability as fragmented activities—policies here, data there, workshops elsewhere. But trust cannot be built on fragments.
It requires an integrated architecture where:
  • Strategy aligns with material risks and global frameworks
  • Data is consistent, traceable, and audit-ready
  • Engagement drives documented, verifiable action
  • Assurance validates outcomes with independence and rigour
This is the infrastructure of credibility—connecting governance, systems, people, and standards.

Four Pathways to Building Credibility

1. Clarify Material Priorities: Materiality assessments and executive alignment remove noise and sharpen strategic focus on what genuinely impacts value.
2. Build Audit-Ready Data Systems: Move beyond spreadsheets. Structured data flows that mirror financial reporting standards provide the foundation for credible disclosure.
3. Engage Stakeholders with Evidence: Employees, suppliers, and communities must produce verifiable outcomes—not self-reported claims. Documentation transforms intent into impact.
4. Prioritise Independent Verification: ISO 14064 for emissions and AA1000AS for ESG assurance are becoming baseline expectations. Third-party verification is becoming increasingly common as ESG reporting becomes more regulated.

Solving the Scope 3 Challenge: Why Engagement Platforms Matter

The Scope 3 challenge is fundamentally a data engagement problem. Companies cite data availability and quality (96%) and value chain complexity (95%) as the biggest obstacles to credible reporting. Traditional approaches—spreadsheets, email requests, disconnected surveys—cannot deliver the audit-ready, traceable data that regulations now demand.
The gap between ambition and execution is stark: 53.6% of companies cite Scope 3 as too challenging for setting net zero targets, according to the Science-based Targets initiative.
What’s needed is not more manual effort, but infrastructure that transforms how organisations engage their value chains—moving from periodic data collection to continuous, structured, verifiable collaboration.

How Adyra Is Transforming Scope 3 Engagement

At Adyra, we’ve recognised that Scope 3 credibility requires a fundamental shift in how organisations engage with suppliers, employees, and stakeholders. Our approach is built on one principle: trust should be engineered, not assumed.

Our Integrated Platform Approach

1. Purpose-Built Engagement Infrastructure
Rather than treating Scope 3 as a reporting exercise, we’ve designed an engagement platform that connects stakeholders directly to your emissions data system. Suppliers, employees, and partners provide activity data through structured workflows that feed directly into audit-ready reporting systems—eliminating manual reconciliation and ensuring traceability from source to disclosure.
2. From Estimates to Evidence
Most Scope 3 reporting relies on spend-based estimates and industry averages. We help organisations transition to activity-based data collection through targeted stakeholder engagement. This means moving from generic emission factors to actual supplier-specific data, validated through our platform and ready for independent verification.
3. Continuous Verification Architecture
Our platform integrates independent verification at the point of data collection, not after-the-fact. This means suppliers can provide verified emissions data that feeds directly into your Scope 3 inventory, creating a system where trust is built into the data flow itself.
4. Materiality-Driven Scope
We help organisations identify which of the 15 Scope 3 categories matter most to their business and stakeholders. Rather than attempting to capture everything at once, we build engagement strategies that focus resources on material emission sources—delivering both credibility and efficiency.

The Adyra Difference

We combine:
  • Strategic alignment: ESG strategies rooted in materiality analysis and global frameworks (ISSB, CSRD, GRI, TCFD)
  • Engagement infrastructure: Purpose-built platforms that transform how your value chain provides emissions data
  • Data integrity: Robust, audit-ready sustainability data systems that mirror financial reporting standards
  • Independent assurance: ISO 14064 verification for emissions and AA1000AS for ESG disclosures
  • Stakeholder activation: Evidence-based engagement that converts suppliers, employees, and communities from passive reporters to active participants
This integrated approach doesn’t just improve compliance—it creates competitive advantage by building the trust infrastructure that investors, buyers, and regulators increasingly demand.

The Path Forward

ESG is evolving from a reporting exercise into an operating discipline—one that demands transparency, accuracy, and proof. Scope 3 has become the ultimate test of this transformation: organisations that can demonstrate verifiable value chain performance will lead, while those relying on estimates and fragmented data will struggle to compete.
In this new context, trust is more than a virtue. It is measurable. It is valuable. And it is now the most important currency in sustainability.
Organisations that build the engagement infrastructure to capture Scope 3 meaningfully—with purpose, precision, and independent verification—will be the ones who shape the future.

Sources:

  • Review of Accounting Studies (2024). ESG assurance in the United States
  • Social Capital Markets (2024). ESG Statistics 2024
  • KPMG (2024). Global ESG due diligence+ study 2024
  • KPMG (2024). Analysis of Scope 3 emissions reporting
  • Seneca ESG (2025). ISSB New Standards 2025
  • Kodiak Hub (2025). ESG Reporting in 2025: The Complete Strategic Guide
  • Deloitte (2024). Survey of large public companies on ESG disclosure
  • PwC (2024). Investor climate strategy considerations survey
  • Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi). Net zero targets survey
  • Climate Seed (2025). Scope 3 Emissions Guide
  • Pulsora (2025). The Ultimate Guide to Scope 3 Emissions