You are not an AASB S2 filer — what the buyer is actually asking for
Their sustainability report is their duty. Your spreadsheet is usually a commercial ask in service of that duty — not a parallel filing.
Buyers sometimes talk as if you have “joined AASB S2.” You have not — unless your own entity independently meets the Corporations Act size and reporting tests. Most mid-tier suppliers and farms in a buyer’s Category 1 map are outside that filing net.
What you are in is the commercial blast radius of someone else’s report.
Two duties, one spreadsheet
Their duty. Entities required to prepare a sustainability report under the Corporations Act apply the Australian Accounting Standards Board Climate-related Disclosures standard (AASB S2). In the first year they apply it, Appendix C lets them omit Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. From the second reporting year, Scope 3 is on the table for that reporting entity. They prefer data from specific activities in the value chain where it exists. That preference lives in their measurement framework — not in a statute that names you.
Your position. You can share, negotiate scope, use secondary factors the buyer already accepts, or decline. Australian climate-reporting law does not force upload to any particular portal. Contract and commercial leverage do the forcing — which is why the ask still lands on your desk.
What they usually need (plain English)
| They say | They often mean |
|---|---|
| “Primary data” | A figure tied to your activity, not only an industry average |
| “Scope 3 Category 1” | Purchased goods intensity that rolls into their portfolio estimate |
| “FLAG-ready” | Careful: portfolio Category 1 is not the same as farm-level Forest, Land and Agriculture primary data for a company target programme |
| “Assurance-ready” | Something they arrange with their own assurer. A Supplier Share grant isn't an assurance opinion or assurance evidence. |
If a request blurs portfolio estimate with farm-level land-management data, ask which artefact they need. Anonymised cohort intensity can support a portfolio estimate. It is not Science Based Targets initiative Forest, Land and Agriculture (SBTi FLAG) farm-level data. Named shares are separate commercial choices — still not your AASB S2 filing duty.
How to answer without becoming a filer
- Confirm you are responding as a supplier under contract / programme, not as a sustainability-report preparer.
- Offer the intensity you already have, with clear identity and period.
- Grant access at the tier that matches the deal (anonymised → named → named + evidence).
- Keep a copy of what you granted. Revoke when you mean to.
Bottom line
AASB S2 made the buyer’s calendar real. It did not quietly enrol every mid-tier supplier as a filer. Separate the legal duty from the commercial ask — then answer the ask once, on your terms.