To support enterprises in reducing their value chain emissions, Normative, emission accounting engine, has released a free guide. Tagged “Enterprise Value Chain Carbon Emission Reduction: Six building blocks to measure and reduce value chain carbon emissions”, the guide helps big businesses get started measuring and reducing their emissions to stay compliant with current legislation and stay competitive in the market.
Large corporations are responsible for the majority of business emissions, however when these large corporations analyse their greenhouse gas emissions they often find that most of their emissions originate from their value chains. A 2020 CDP report stated that 92% of an average company’s emissions originate in the value chain.
A company’s value chain includes both upstream emissions from the supply chain – the smaller businesses that provide the services, products, and resources that go into the company’s end products – as well as downstream emissions from product use and disposal.
“We know that many businesses want to do the right thing and reduce their carbon emissions. Value chain emissions are extremely complex to measure and reduce, but businesses that manage it will see the greatest overall impact on carbon reduction. With this guide, we want to make carbon accounting accessible to enterprises worldwide,” explains Kristian Rönn, CEO and co-founder of Normative, said to be the world’s first carbon accounting engine.
The guide provides a roadmap for businesses to engage their value chains in carbon reduction, with a focus on practicality and pragmatism, according to the organisation.
The latest IPCC report states that unless immediate and drastic emissions reductions measures are taken across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C will be impossible.
Reporting and reducing emissions is not only a business opportunity for enterprises, but the legislation is clear. In the EU large businesses are required by the NFDR legislation to measure and report on their emissions. The NFDR is set to be replaced by the CSRD, which establishes stricter reporting standards and applies to almost five times as many businesses.
Moreover, under the SFDR, financial market participants must report on the emissions associated with their investments. In the UK, SECR imposes reporting obligations similar to the CSRD, and in the US a new legislation was recently proposed by the SEC that would introduce new requirements to disclose emissions for publicly traded businesses.
“We created this guide to support enterprises with engaging their value chains and taking action. When they do so, they’re not only helping fight climate change – they’re avoiding greenwashing, keeping themselves compliant, and staying competitive on the market,” Rönn concludes.
Download the guide here.
