Technology Platforms Key to Scope 3 Reporting and Reduction
According to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) data, energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 0.9% to more than 36.8Gt in 2022. Global CO2 emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes rose 0.9%, equivalent to 321Mt in the same year to a record-breaking high of 36.8Gt.
When looking at this on a more micro scale and focusing in on organisations as individuals more closely, on average, Scope 3 emissions account for in excess of 80% carbon footprint. These emissions include all activities from its supply chain.
“The old adage remains: you can't manage what you don’t measure,” says Alyssa Rade, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sustain.Life, a solution that helps organisations measure, manage and report their carbon emissions across Scope 1, 2 and 3 in accordance with global standards. This also extends to organisations wanting to decarbonise their supply chain.
“Tracking emissions is only the first step towards the real goal: to reduce impact and decarbonise,” she warns. “By automating the measurement process, Sustain.Life enables and guides suppliers to focus on the real work of decarbonising operations — including everything from fuel switching and renewable energy contracts to deep retrofits and efficiency improvements, plus engaging down to tier 2, 3 and 4 suppliers to decarbonise their own supply chains.”
There has been a growing focus — and surge in regulations — on large organisations, including the likes of Amazon, Walmart and Costco, requiring their suppliers to report their emissions, which Rade feels is not only upping the pressure on companies regardless of size to not only track, but actively reduce their Scope 3 emissions.
The importance of having the right tools and resources to ease the decarbonisation transition
Likening the trials and tribulations of environmental compliance to alphabet soup, Rade is proud to lead Sustain.Life’s sustainability initiatives, spearheading the development of innovative tools and strategies to advance decarbonisation. The platform, a cutting-edge SaaS solution, is designed to engage supply chains and address Scope 3 decarbonisation, all while allowing organisations to truly make an impact as everyone looks to navigate this new and ever-evolving regulatory landscape and implement these sustainable practices from here on out.
Supporting those in the value chain of Fortune 100s in accelerating their climate strategies, Rade has first-hand experience in enabling suppliers — often less resources and mature in their climate journey — as they work out how to tackle climate targets head-on, bridging gaps in data sharing within supply chains.
“We offer a holistic, adaptable and user-friendly tool for sustainable supply chain management,” she explains. “It's about making sustainability an integral and effortless part of business operations. Our supply chain management tools offer both Scope 3 emissions and ESG risk assessments. For Scope 3 emissions, our platform integrates with ERP and systems of record to automatically calculate emissions based on existing procurement data, leveraging Sustain.Life’s proprietary emission factor database, foregoing the need to directly survey suppliers.”
Sustain.Life’s system allows companies to score and benchmark suppliers, ensuring they comply with sustainability requirements and directing engagement efforts to the most critical commodities and suppliers. But it’s also addressing supplier risks, a critical area, where Sustain.Life excels.
She continues: “Our platform ensures companies are ahead of global climate disclosure regulations, like those from the proposed SEC and Australia bills and current California and CSRD mandates. We designed the platform to not only meet, but facilitate the assurance requirements central to these laws, by allowing companies to invite third party auditors directly into the platform to view underlying activity data and documentation, as well as line-item emission calculations with reference to the emission factors, datasets and methodologies employed across emission categories.
“Many carbon accounting SaaS platforms keep this data in a black box or buried deep in reference documents, whereas we have integrated it directly into the customer interface.”
Technology core to reporting and minimising Scope 3 emissions
Acknowledging that major corporations are already pushing their suppliers to report emissions — and how critical it is that organisations take an active approach to Scope 3 emissions — Rade shares how there are specific challenges organisations face, challenges she and the team at Sustain.Life work tirelessly to help them implement tangible operational changes for long-term sustainability.
“Our sustainability initiatives library guides users on how to enact this kind of operational change,” she explains. “Whether you’re selecting a permitted hauler for hazardous waste or compost or pursuing a renewable energy contract, we guide companies on stakeholder engagement, external resources, implementation, KPIs and metrics, as well tie these initiatives to third party frameworks like B Corp, GRI, UNGC and the SDGs.”
Off the back of this, Sustain.Life’s supply chain module allows corporates to view the sustainable actions, goals and progress of their suppliers, removing onerous and repetitive questionnaires and streamlining data exchange across the value chain.
Energised by the journeys, challenges and successes of its customer base, Rade is excited for Sustain.Life’s future, foreseeing the solution playing a bigger part in wider global decarbonisation efforts.
Rade concludes: “We see a future focused on automation, transparency and action, in which our technology enables companies to drive meaningful change across their own operations as well as their supply chain.”
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