Challenges and requirements of exchanging Product Carbon Footprint information in the supply chain

Abstract

The reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is of high importance to society. Companies therefore have an increasing interest in understanding and reducing the GHG emissions of their supply chains and to generate data to track and prove this, for example by calculating product carbon footprints (PCFs). Besides serious gaps in PCF data within companies and in LCA databases, there is still missing experience and knowledge on how to consistently prepare and exchange these data. Based on our experience as LCA practitioners in the industry, we discuss the key challenges and requirements such as data formats, data quality, confidentiality concerns and comparability issues of PCF data. Aiming to contribute practical recommendations to ongoing initiatives working to enable PCF-exchange along value chains, we scope approaches that match industry requirements.

Supply-chain data sharing for scope 3 emissions

“…Existing standards (e.g., ISO standards, GHG Protocol standards) and sector guidelines (such as the Product Category Rules or Product Environmental Footprint method) leave room for interpretation 22,53,64 . Scope 3 emission footprints build up on top of the emission data input of different suppliers, but lack an overarching harmonization and integration 33 . With missing data interoperability, i.e., when suppliers within a supply chain use different calculation standards or interpret certain inputs differently, the resulting Scope 3 emission footprint is inconsistent and insufficient.…”

“…Another major obstacle for data sharing is the risk of sharing sensitive data. Product-level emission data can enable reverse engineering to conclude insights into production processes (e.g., information about product composition and supplier networks) and is therefore considered to be competitively relevant 33 . Firms are very hesitant to share such data.…”

“…To assess its Scope 3 emissions, a firm must map its total value chain (i.e., cradle-to-gate) and identify all emission sources. Often, a firm does not have access to the emission data from other firms along the supply chain (especially when firms are further away in the supply chain) 33 . The data used to calculate Scope 3 emissions should ideally be primary data.…”