The PCAF data quality score shows how reliable the financed emissions figure is for each portfolio position. The scale runs from 1 to 5: a score of 1 is the best and means verified data disclosed by the company itself; a score of 5 is the roughest, with emissions estimated from economic activity.
Why a quality score is needed
Financed emissions are almost always calculated from a mix of data: for some clients there are verified reports, for others only the loan amount and the sector. Without a quality indication, two identical figures look equally sound, even though one of them may be off from reality several times over. That is why PCAF requires the quality score to be disclosed alongside the result, not in place of it.
General principles for working with primary data and uncertainty are covered in Data quality.
What the scores mean
The logic of the scale: the closer the source is to actual measurements at the company, and the fewer the assumptions, the better the score.
| Score | Basis of calculation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emissions disclosed by the company and verified | Inventory with a verification statement |
| 2 | Emissions disclosed by the company, unverified | Company report without verification |
| 3 | Calculation from the company's physical activity | The bank knows the electricity and gas consumption and applies emission factors |
| 4 | Estimate from the company's economic data | Company revenue × sector factor |
| 5 | Estimate from economic activity at the investment level | Loan amount × sector factor |
The detailed criteria differ by asset class and should be checked against the current edition of the standard (the 3rd edition, December 2025).
Weighted portfolio score
For the portfolio as a whole, a score weighted by outstanding amount is disclosed. A worked example:
| Position | Outstanding amount | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Client A | 600 | 2 |
| Client B | 300 | 4 |
| Client C | 100 | 5 |
| Total | 1,000 | — |
Weighted score = (600 × 2 + 300 × 4 + 100 × 5) / 1,000 = (1,200 + 1,200 + 500) / 1,000 = 2.9.
This shows where there is room for improvement: if Client B provides its own energy consumption data (score 3), the result drops to 2.6.
How a borrower can improve its score with the bank
The quality score does not rate the company itself; it rates the data the bank has. A borrower can improve it by:
- providing electricity, heat and fuel consumption data, which immediately moves the calculation from economic assumptions to physical activity;
- preparing a Scope 1 and 2 inventory under a recognized methodology;
- attaching primary documents: invoices, certificates of completion, meter readings;
- having the inventory verified, for example under ISO 14064-3:2019.
Scores of 4–5 usually rest on sector-average factors. For an energy-efficient company, these can overstate emissions, so sharing its own data benefits the borrower too.
How it works in the platform
- The PCAF contour is still in development and marked “Soon”: the platform does not yet have the quality scale or portfolio calculations.
- A company can already keep the kind of data that earns a better score from its bank: in Data entry, fuel, electricity and heat consumption is entered for each facility month by month, and supporting documents (invoices, certificates of completion, photos of meter readings, contracts) are attached to the records.
- Each facility's year goes through a completeness check and is then closed, and the change history is kept. Records like these, backed by documents, give the bank grounds for a better quality score than sector assumptions would allow.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a good score?
The closer to 1, the better. For a portfolio, the trend matters as much as the average: a weighted score that falls year after year shows that the bank is getting more and more real data from its clients.
Can a score of 1 be achieved without verification?
By the logic of the scale, no: the top score assumes that the emissions disclosed by the company have been verified. An unverified company report corresponds to a score of 2.
Does the quality score affect the emissions figure?
The score itself does not change the figure, but different data sources produce different results. Switching from a sector estimate to real data often changes a position's financed emissions noticeably; for more on the calculation, see Attribution formula.