Scope 3 is a relationship problem disguised as a data problem, and this is how to unlock it
MIT report shows that about 70% of ESG professionals surveyed by MIT say that missing supplier data is their biggest barrier to Scope 3.
What if scope 3 was a relationship problem disguised as a data problem?
No need for your ESG team to send more questionnaires, add more reminders and buy better platforms. The inbox will stay quiet.
What if the missing data is a symptom, rather than the cause?
A supplier data request is never just a form. It lands inside a relationship that already exists, with its own history, loyalties and unspoken expectations. The constellation mapping exercise with a Coach unveils all those unspoken and hidden dynamics.
When I map this system with ESG leads using constellations on a shared board, three things usually become visible.
1. The request doesn't come from the person the supplier knows. The supplier's relationship is with a buyer or site manager, not with the ESG team. The request comes from someone the supplier has never met or heard of.
2. Attention points somewhere else. Procurement is focused on price and delivery. The supplier is focused on keeping the contract. Nobody on the board is actually facing the emissions data. (see the illustration)
3. The supplier can't see what's in it for them. For a startup or an SME, the question is simple: if I share this, what happens next? Will I be judged, ranked or dropped? Or will I become a stronger partner? A lot of questions that are rarely voiced.
In a systemic constellation coaching session, we don't fix this, one supplier at a time.
We step back and look at the whole system: who is close to the decision, who is missing, and what changes when a buyer or procurement lead moves next to the ESG team.
The ESG lead can then try out a new approach safely on the board before the real conversation takes place. This is an example of how a constellation might evolve within 30 minutes with one single move towards an improvement which is then discussed with the Coach as a possible solution.
One coaching question often changes the conversation:
Take the supplier's place, why would you want to share your data with the ESG lead?
It is even more powerful when the ESG lead is asked by the Coach to physically sit in the place of the supplier.
Over 15 years of waste-to-energy and water-reuse partnerships, I have seen that trust usually comes before the data.
Where does your Scope 3 data get stuck: in the tool, or in the relationship? Feel free to reach out to explore how systemic coaching with constellations might help.
Source: MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and CSCMP, 2025 State of Supply Chain Sustainability report (1,200 professionals, 97 countries):
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