Reduce Value Chain Emissions
Manage Key Issues in Value Chains
Working with your value chain to reduce your company’s Scope 3 emissions is critical to tackling climate change and achieving your sustainability goals. Addressing these emissions helps your company mitigate risks, drive meaningful progress toward net zero, and meet growing stakeholder expectations from investors, customers, and regulators.
Scope 3 emissions often make up the majority of a company’s total carbon footprint. That means they offer the largest opportunity for decarbonization. The common sources of Scope 3 emissions include energy use in your suppliers’ buildings, facilities, and data centers; emissions from upstream and downstream transport and distribution; employee business travel; and the end use of goods. Value chain emissions may also result from non-energy sources, such as the supplier’s use of refrigerants and industrial gases. For companies with food and agriculture supply chains, methane emissions from farming practices also represent one of the largest opportunities for emissions reductions.
Managing Scope 3 emissions isn’t just good for the planet – it’s smart business. Working with your suppliers to invest in innovation for significant and challenging emission sources like methane, as well as encouraging your suppliers to deploy mature solutions like energy efficiency, can strengthen the resilience of your value chain to climate transition risks. Regulatory requirements for Scope 3 reporting are increasing. Investors, customers, and suppliers expect more transparency. Managing Scope 3 emissions helps businesses stay compliant, build trust, and maintain a competitive edge. Targeting emissions reductions in your value chain will create opportunities to achieve other important sustainability goals, like regenerating ecosystems and improving air and water quality in the communities in which your company operates.
The following action steps provide more insights into managing the key issues related to emissions in your value chain. Use the filter below to find steps tailored to your sector.
