Flex: 115 million tonnes of shared value-chain emissions

Flex’s latest climate disclosures highlight just how large manufacturing Scope 3 emissions can become in globally integrated supply chains.

According to recent CDP disclosures, Flex reports roughly 115 million tonnes of Scope 3 emissions across its value chain, far exceeding its direct operational footprint.

That pattern isn’t unique.

Across manufacturing sectors, companies like Otis and Komatsu are reporting similarly large value-chain footprints, driven largely by supplier inputs and product use downstream.

What this highlights is how much decarbonization now depends on collaboration across industrial ecosystems rather than action by any single company.

Manufacturers increasingly share:

• overlapping supplier networks
• common materials and logistics pathways
• similar regulatory exposure across markets

As climate disclosure rules expand, from EU CSRD to evolving Scope 3 expectations globally, companies are under growing pressure to demonstrate credible emissions reductions across these supply chains.

That raises an interesting question for large manufacturing platforms like Flex.

If so much of the footprint sits across shared value chains, meaningful progress may depend on coordinated approaches to supplier decarbonization rather than isolated efforts.

How are manufacturers like Flex thinking about collaboration across supply chains to accelerate Scope 3 reductions?

Flex Barjouth Aguilar Ayala