Calculating Supply Chain Deforestation Emissions for Brazil’s Meatpacking Sector: A New Corporate Accounting Methodology

Background: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) distinguishes Scope 1 emissions, which occur directly at the facility or company, from Scope 2 emissions linked to electricity use, and Scope 3 emissions associated with other supply-chain inputs. Estimating Scope 3 deforestation-related emissions in Brazil’s cattle sector remains challenging due to the fragmented nature of supply chains and the lack of national farm-to-gate traceability. Most companies cannot identify indirect suppliers, where deforestation is increasingly concentrated, making Scope 3 land-use change emissions difficult to quantify. Instead, they use top-down statistical land-use change models based on national, state or municipal emission factors which are usually limited regarding variation of companies’ carbon footprint. To address this gap, we developed a spatially explicit method aligned with the GHGP’s Land Sector and Removals Guidance, using data already available to slaughterhouses to estimate cattle supply zones and compare alternative input datasets and methods. Results: Emissions estimates varied significantly depending on the deforestation dataset and spatial attribution method. Global Forest Watch deforestation data produced gross emissions nearly 100% higher and discounted emissions about 120% higher than PRODES data. Supply zones based on locations of direct suppliers produced emissions up to 25% lower than fixed-radius buffers around slaughterhouses. When adjusted for market share and temporal discounting, total emissions decreased by 85–97%. While supply zones improved geographic precision relative to fixed-radius buffers and municipal, state or country estimates, they still include both suppliers and non-suppliers and do not fully capture company-specific mitigation actions. Conclusions: This study presents a practical, replicable method for estimating deforestation-related Scope 3 emissions using currently available data for Brazil’s cattle sector. The approach is consistent with GHGP recommendations and supports corporate reporting. Supply zones represent an important advance over traditional top-down statistical land-use change methods. Improving accuracy of Scope 3 emissions from deforestation however, will require expanded traceability capable of identifying all animals and all tiers of cattle suppliers.