The Importance of Accurate CO2 Information

CO2 information and data is key to modern businesses' climate transformation.

The Importance of Accurate CO2 Information

Measure it to manage it

Reducing CO2 emissions is an urgent priority for businesses, people and governments around the world. Whether motivated by increasing costs (e.g., climate-related damage to manufacturing facilities, CO2 taxes and offsetting costs, etc.), by customers, leveraging competitive advantage, or simply because it is the right thing to do, it is clear that reducing CO2 emissions will not happen overnight, as companies struggle beyond measure between promises and actual implementation.

A recent BCG survey assessing the ability of companies to measure and reduce their CO2 emissions found that of 1,290 organizations, 85% were concerned about reducing their emissions, yet only 9% were able to comprehensively measure their emissions (Scope 1, 2 & 3). In fact, 76% of respondents reported that they were unable to measure the full carbon footprint of their products and services, including product use and end-of-life impacts. This could be mainly due to the fact that they lack accurate tools and data to measure Scope 3 and Product Carbon Footprints. In addition, respondents estimated that the average error rate in their emissions measurements was 30-40%. So even though companies comply with regulations to calculate their emissions, the outcome is probably incorrect.

Thus, it may be fair to ask where the real problem lies. In general, the difficulty might start with companies struggling to define emissions scopes that form the basis for accurate CO2 emissions reporting (To learn more about meaningful CO2 reporting and emissions scopes, read our blog article on the matter here). Consequently, a product's CO2 value becomes as relevant to a company as its financial cost, forcing them to take a closer look at the product's supply chain to understand its CO2 levers.

Moreover, the information provided by suppliers is often inaccurate, incomplete, or sometimes missing altogether, complicating emissions measurement. Even when the information is available, it must be consistent and comparable with other CO2 data.

To address this issue and improve the above numbers, the solution could be embedded in a consistent database where expert know-how and AI-driven data would be supported by a bottom-up methodology for calculating emissions, as well as clear reporting standards.

With sustamize, it is our goal to close this gap. We are providing a Product Footprint Engine (PFE) featuring the largest CO2e database and intelligent algorithms that enable the automated calculation of Product Carbon Footprints.