2024 New Year's Resolution: Reducing carbon footprints in manufacturing value-chains

So its that time of year for NY RESOLUTIONS.... Hence while we all contemplate what personal improvement initiatives we want to take on, maybe its a good time to look at the WEF's (World-Economic-Forum) latest white-paper and consider what INDUSTRY can take on as improvement resolutions, in reducing CO2/emissions in 2024, and how to accelerate the move towards a carbon-free /Net-Zero future...

The “No-Excuse” Opportunities to Tackle Scope 3 Emissions in Manufacturing and Value Chains

Its a must-read for anyone in a position to influence their organization's sustainability strategy, and who wants to make a difference to our planet's survival & future.

So what are Scope 3 Emissions? See diagram below... in simple terms they are all the emissions from your supply-chain (i.e. suppliers) as well as all emissions linked to the use of your product and related emissions throughout its lifetime including disposal.

So why do Scope 3 emissions matter? This varies by industry sector, but emissions typically account for more than 70% of a business’s carbon footprint.

Regulations: regulations are becoming increasingly important, so companies will sooner or later have to comply in order to remain competitive in their markets. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) are increasing in significance here.

Examples: highly innovative Scope 3 reduction programs can be found in the WEF's white paper, from companies like Schaeffler, Dow, Decathlon, P&G, Rockwell Automation, Microsoft, IKEA... + many more. These are well worth a read.

What next-steps can we take? Read this white-paper, discuss with your management, and reach out to those driving the Net Zero initiative to find examples and advice on how to reduce emissions across your value-chains.

White-Paper source: The World Economic Forum’s Industry Net Zero Accelerator initiative is committed to engaging leaders across industry sectors, governments, academia and civil society to accelerate the netzero journey. Future work includes: using this paper and the “noexcuse” framework to inform decisions; promoting learning through the Forum’s digital repository of sustainable manufacturing and supply-chain case studies, launched in May 2023; and celebrating industrial leaders’ achievements in decarbonization.