Just Received a Sustainability Questionnaire? Here's Exactly What to Do

You Just Received a Sustainability Questionnaire — Don't Panic

You opened an email from a procurement manager at one of your biggest clients. There was a sustainability questionnaire attached — or a link to one inside SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, or a similar platform. It asks for your carbon footprint. You have never measured your emissions before. The deadline is two to four weeks away.

This is the situation thousands of EU SME suppliers find themselves in right now. And it is completely solvable — in less than a day.

Step 1: Understand What They Are Actually Asking For

Every supplier sustainability questionnaire, regardless of the platform or client, is asking for the same core data:

• Scope 1 (tCO2e) — your direct emissions from burning gas, diesel, or petrol on your premises or in your vehicles
• Scope 2 (tCO2e) — emissions from the electricity you purchase
• Scope 3 (tCO2e) — indirect emissions from business travel, employee commuting, and waste
• Methodology — which standard you used (the answer is GHG Protocol Corporate Standard)
• Reporting year — the most recent complete calendar year

That is it. The terminology is unfamiliar but the underlying data is not.

Step 2: Gather the Source Documents

You need four documents at most:

1. Gas bills — annual total in m³ or kWh (look at your last 12 months of invoices)
2. Electricity bills — annual kWh total (same approach)
3. Fuel receipts or fuel card statements — annual litres of diesel and/or petrol
4. Headcount — your average number of employees this year

That is genuinely all the primary data you need. Business travel figures help if you have them, but reasonable estimates are accepted.

Step 3: Convert to tCO2e Using Published Emission Factors

Procurement teams cannot use raw kWh or litres — you must convert to tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Use DEFRA 2023 factors:

Multiply your annual consumption by the factor, divide by 1,000 to convert kg to tonnes. DeCarbonOPS does this automatically — you enter raw figures from your bills and it outputs tCO2e per scope instantly.

Step 4: Generate a Verification URL

Most procurement platforms — especially SAP Ariba and Coupa — now require a verification URL, not just a number in a text box. This is a publicly accessible link that the buyer's system can check to confirm your emissions data is real.

A Carbon Passport from DeCarbonOPS gives you exactly this. You enter your utility data, the platform calculates your Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and generates a permanent URL (e.g. decarbonops.com/verify/[token]). You paste that URL into the questionnaire field — the buyer's team can click it and see your verified data instantly.

Step 5: Complete the Questionnaire

With your tCO2e figures and your verification URL ready, most questionnaires take under 30 minutes to fill in. Key fields you will encounter:

• Scope 1, 2, 3 totals — enter your tCO2e figures
• Methodology — enter "GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, DEFRA 2023 emission factors, self-assessed"
• Reporting year — the year your data covers
• Verification evidence — paste your Carbon Passport URL
• Reduction targets — if you have none yet, you can state "We are in the process of setting science-based reduction targets for 2026"

What If the Deadline Is Very Soon?

If you have less than a week, skip optimising and go straight to DeCarbonOPS. Create a free account, enter your best estimates from memory or quick checks of your bills, and generate your Carbon Passport in under 20 minutes. An estimated-but-honest response submitted on time is always better than a perfect response submitted late — buyers understand that first-time reporters use estimates.

What Happens If You Don't Respond?

Procurement systems mark non-responding suppliers as high sustainability risk. In practical terms:

• Your supplier score drops, reducing your visibility in future tender processes
• Repeat non-responses can trigger removal from the approved vendor list
• Your client's CSRD filing deadline creates hard pressure — a supplier who cannot provide data is a liability

The questionnaire exists because your client has a legal obligation under CSRD. They need your data. Responding positions you as a reliable, compliant supplier. Not responding positions you as a risk.